a r mind 

Mas Farm Powde 



The Safest Explosive 



The Original Farm Ptmrder 




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MAY ib rj|9 




Ofie of the Atlas Powder Company's Fourteen Plants 

Del-fer 
Farmind 



WITH 



Mas Farm Powdei 



The Safest Explosive 



The Original Farm Powder 



ATLAS POWDER COMPANY 
Home Office, Wilmington, Delaware 



AUentown, Pa. 
Birmingham, Ala. 
Boston, Mass. 
Chicago, 111 
Des Moines, la. 
Houghton, Mich. 
Joplin, Mo. 



Kansas City, Mo. 
Knoxville, Tenn. 
McAlester, Okla. 
Memphis, Tenn. 
Nashville, Tenn. 
New Orleans, La. 
New York, N. Y. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 
Pittsburg, Kan. 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Potts ville. Pa. 
St. Louis, Mo. 
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 



Copyright, 1919, by Atlas Powder Company 






ATLAS FARM POWDER. 5-7 

Adaptability 6 

Cost 6 

Freezing 6 

Handling 7 

Hauling 6 

Properties 5 

Quickness OR Violence. 5 

Sensitiveness 6 

Shipping 6 

Stability 6 

Storing 6 

Strength 5 

Thawing 7 

ATLAS BLASTING MA- 
TERIALS 126 

Descriptive Matter. . . 126 

Illustrations 127 

BLASTING AS A BUSI- 
NESS 124 

Information 124 

Need for Experienced 

Blasters 124 

Profits in Blasting. . . 124 
OULDER REMOVING 

62-71 

Blasting Ledges 7u 

Block-holing Method.. 69 

Depth of Holes 69 

Drilling Holes 69 

Drills 69 

Loading Charges 69 

Powder Required 70 

Priming Charges 69 

When to Use Block- 
holing Method 69 

Mudcapping METHbD.. . 65 

Kinds of Stones 64 

Locating Charges 65 

Mudcap, the 65 

Powder Required 66 

Priming and Loading . . 65 
When to Use Mudcap 

Method 62 

Safety Factor 71 

Undermining Method. . 67 

Firing Charges 68 

Powder Required 68 

Priming Charges 68 

Tamping 68 

When to Use Under- 
mining Method 67 

COST OF STUMPS, 
BOULDERS, 

SWAMPS 17-20 

Appearance 19 

Clean Cultivation .... 17 

Gullies 18 

Hardpan 18 

Idle Land 19 

Increase in Crops 18 

Sale Value 19 

Stump Land 19 

Weeds 19 

DITCH BLASTING. . . .21-36 

Tools Required 21 

Electric Firing 22 

Extra Wide and Deep 

Ditches 30 

Finishing 29 

Laying Out Ditch 23 

Loading and Firing. . . 28 

Making Holes 23 

Obstructions in Line . . 31 

Powder Required 25 

Spacing of Charges.. . . 26 

Test Blasting 27 

Wide Ditches 30 

Cap and Fuse Firing. . 31 
Extra Wide and Deep 

Ditches 34 

Loading 33 

Powder Required 33 

Spacing of Charges. ... 32 
Test Blasts 33 

2 



INDEX 

Transmitted Detona- 
tion .n 

Miscellaneous Points. 34 
Comparison of Blast- 
ing and Other Meth- 
ods 36 

Comparison of Electric 
and Cap and Fuse 

Method . 35 

Ditches for Tile Drains 34 

Effects of Wind 35 

Loading Charges Off 

Center Line 34 

Speed Attained 34 

Straightening Stream 

Channels 35 

Subsoil Drainage 35 

FERTILIZATION AND 

TILLAGE 104-109 

Food Used by Crops. . . 106 
How Soils Gain Avail- 
able Food 107 

How Soils Lose Avail- 
able Food 107 

Micro-organisms, Bac- 
teria 108 

Nature of Soil 105 

Pl.\nt Foods in Soil. .106 

Water in Soil 108 

FOUNDATIONS, EXCA- 
VATING 79 

FUSE 126 

GROUNDHOGS, KILL- 
ING 80 

GULLIES, FILLING UP.. 76 
ICE GORGES, REMOV- 
ING 79 

LOADING 

Ditch Blastine 26-33 

Stump Blasting 47-48 

Boulder Blasting 66-69 

.Soil Blasting 90 

LOGS, COAL PILES, 

LOOSENING 80 

POST-HOLE BLASTING. 76 
PREPARING CHARGES 

8-16 
Cap and Fuse Method . 8 

Cutting Fuse 10 

Cutting Sticks of Pow- 
der 10 

Fastening Caps 10 

Materials and Tools. . . 9 

Priming 11 

Waterproofing 12 

Electric Firing 13 

Advantages 13 

Cutting Sticks of Pow- 
der 10 

Electric Connections. . 14 
Equipment Required. . 15 
Sources of Current .... 14 

QUARRYING 81 

ROAD MAKING 72-75 

Ditches and Stream 

Channels 72 

Hillside Grading 75 

Loosening Material. . . 72 

Removing Grades 73 

Sharp Curves 74 

SOIL BLASTING 82-109 

Blasting Under Trees 

AND Crops 94 

Drainage 95 

Placing Charges 95 

Condition of Soil 86 

Firing Charges 89,99 

Loading Charges 89 

Making Holes 91 

Placing Charges 91 

Powder Required 90 

Soil Maps 85 

Soil, Why it Should Be 

Blasted 101 

Drainage 102 

Erosion 101 



Mellowing 104 

Moisture Supply.... lO.i 

Plant Food 103 

Root Penetration. ... 102 
Soils, What Soils to 

Blast 83 

Bound Sand 83 

Cemented Gravel 83 

Clay 84 

Hardpan 83 

Light Loams 84 

Muck 84 

Ordinary Sand 84 

Spacing Charges 92 

Field 93 

Gardens 93 

Home Grounds, Lawns 93 

Orchards 9.i 

Tree Planting 90 

Cropping and Fertiliz- 
ing 100 

Effects of Blasting. . . 101 
Laying-off Tree Posi- 
tions 97 

Pot-holes 96 

Reservoirs of Plant 

Food 97 

Spacing of Trees and 
Crops 112 

STUMP REMOVING. .38-59 

Boring Machines 53 

Combination of Blast- 
ing and Other Meth- 
ods 56 

Deep Loading 52 

Effect of Blasting on 

Soil 41,58 

Fuse, Lighting 50 

Hillside Blasting 52 

Investigating Stumps . . 39 

Frozen Ground 40 

Nature of Ground ... 40 

Nature of Stumps 42 

Loading Charges 48 

Locating Powder 

Charges 43 

Making Holes 46, 53 

Powder Required 47 

Loose Sand and Gravel 52 
Standing Trees, Blast- 
ing 55 

Stump Disposal 58 

Tamping 53 

Test Loading 51 

Tools Required 38 

Varieties of Stumps ... 55 
When Blasting is Best 57 
TILLAGE AND FERTIL- 
ITY RULES.... 105-124 

Cover Crops 114 

Alfalfa 115 

Clover, Crimson 115 

Clover, Sweet 115 

Peas, Cow 115 

Peas, Field 115 

Rye 116 

Soy Beans 115 

Value of Cover Crops .114 

Vetch 115 

Fertilizer Facts 120 

Adaptation to Crops. .121 

Composition 120 

Commercial Fertilizers, 

Formulse, etc 122 

Lime Facts 117 

Commercial Limes. ... 118 
Necessity of Lime in 

Soil 117 

Testing Soil for Lime ..117 

Manure Facts 118 

Amount Required 119 

Composition 118 

Value of Manure 119 

Nitrogen Facts 114 

Spacing or Crops 112 



\.v 



>^(&v:i.A5i()5yo 



-w* \ 



INTRODUCTION 



The publishers have tried to make this little book much more 
than a catalog of their commodities and an argument for them. 
They have tried to see agricultural problems through the eyes of 
farmers and fruit growers, and to discuss solutions that will work 
in the field, garden and orchard. 

In the first part of the book will be found directions for blast- 
ing ditches, stumps, boulders and soil, and for miscellaneous 
blasting. For the beginner there are the a. b. c.'s of blasting 
practices; for the expert the latest developments, kinks and short- 
cuts; and for both beginners and experts, facts about the nature 
and action of explosives that they should know. Everyone who 
gets this book will do well to read this matter carefully before 
attempting to blast, so the work may be done to the best ad- 
vantage. 

In the remainder of the book will be found a discussion of soil 
treatment and fertilization, with special notes on the relation 
of soil blasting to each process and each fact brought out. Much 
material is included, however, which has no direct connection with 
the deep tillage of soil. It should be found useful by the man 
who must make the plans for the planting and care of crops of any 
kind. 

We are indebted to the United States Department of Agri- 
culture and to the Experiment Stations and Colleges of various 
states for information published in bulletins and elsewhere, the 
sum of which has helped toward a clearer understanding of deep 
tillage and other matters, as explained on the following pages. 
A list of publications which may be valuable to anyone interested 
in studying deeper into soil fertility and other subjects will be 
furnished on application. We are also indebted to the Institute 
of Makers of Explosives for some of the illustrations used herein. 

Gasoline engines now are used successfully in every neighbor- 
hood in America. Gasoline operates an engine by means of ex- 
plosions, and its power is suited to the purpose of an engine. 
The power or energy obtained in the explosions of Atlas Farm 
Powder can be used for other farm purposes just as well as that 
of a gasoline engine for belt and traction purposes. 

The energy in farm explosives is always ready. It does not 
get weary. It does its work quickly and surely — in a fraction of 
the time required by other methods for doing the same work. The 
great needs on farms are cheaper power — to replace the men and 
horses so costly today — and cheaper plant food, as well as more 
abundant water during dry seasons. Intensive deep tillage Is too 
costly by old methods — yet is a means by which farms may be 
made to yield heavy profits. The solution of some problems of 
labor, of tillage, and of fertility lie to a large extent in the intelli- 
gent use of explosives. 

3 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

THINGS THAT MAY BE 

ACCOMPLISHED WITH 

POWDER 

Boulder Disposal, including the rolling out of the ground 
and breaking up of boulders, the reduction of ledges of rock, 
etc. See page 62. 

Cellar and Wall Excavation, and many other jobs in 
which dirt must be moved by hand or with plows and 
scrapers ordinarily. See page 79. 

Deep Tillage, for purposes of improving drainage, increasing 
moisture storage, bettering root development and making 
plant food available. Page 82. 

Ditching of different kinds, including small drainage ditches 
later to be tiled, big permanent open ditches, drainage and 
boat canals, stream correction, and including help in mak- 
ing some other ditches not to be completed by blasting. 
See page 21. 

Erosion Prevention, including the prevention of gullying, 
the filling of gullies already formed, the stopping of ordinary 
surface washing, and the checking of the leaching away of 
plant food. See page 77. 

Hardpan Breaking, including the correction of bound or 
cemented soil or ground of any reasonable depth. Page 83. 

Miscellaneous Work, including loosening frozen coal and 
logs, ice-jams, killing ground hogs and many other jobs. 
See page 76. 

Post Hole Making, for fence and 'phone lines or any other 
purposes. See page 76. 

Road Work, including cutting down ofgrades, removal of stumps 
and rocks in the track, cutting down banks, shortening or 
eliminating curves and many other kinds of work. See 
page 72. 

Stump and Tree Removing, including complete removal, 
cracking to hasten decay, to help burning, or in co-operation 
with pulling, in all soils, North, South, East and West. 
See page 38. 

Tree Bed Preparation, to secure the benefits listed under 
deep tillage, together with a reduction in labor and time 
needed for planting trees right. See page 96. 

4 



Powder Facts — Properties and Appearances 



POWDER FACTS 



Properties and Appearances 

Atlas Farm Powder and other x'\tlas Powders are improved 
forms of dynamite made especially for farm conditions and pur- 
poses. They are high explosives, requiring a shock to detonate 
them, and bear no relation to black blasting powder. 

All grades are put up in sticks, the standard size of which is 
Ij inches in diameter and 8 inches long. On page 126 will be 
found specifications regarding size, weight and packing of Atlas 
Powders. 

The chief qualities or properties which should be investigated 
by buyers and users of explosives are: Quickness or violence, 
strength or lifting power, sensitiveness, safety, freezing point, 
stability, cost, and general adaptability to the work in view. 



Quickness or Violence. It will be 
observed that this quality ranks close to 
strength — but most users of explosives 
pay no attention to this important fea- 
ture. What is meant is just this: An 
explosive must exert its strength in the 
manner suited to the material and break- 
age desired, or results will be poor and 
costs high. To illustrate, we may con- 
sider mudcapping of boulders. When a 
"slow" explosive is fired on a rock, the 
expanding gases are permitted to es- 
cape by the yielding air almost as fast 
as they form, hence no great pressure is 
exerted against the rock. But when a 
"fast" explosive is so fired, the air can- 
not yield quick enough, and the gases, 
accumulating pressure, shatter the stone 
by exerting immense force on a small 
area, as from the blow of a heavy sledge. 

On the other hand, when a "fast" 
explosive is fired in soil it forces its way 
to the surface so quickly that it grinds 
and pulverizes for a short distance only. 
The result is usually a pot-hole where 
the charge laid, and surrounding this are 
walls of soil that were powdered, then 
solidly compacted, several inches thick, 
and beyond that little disturbance. 
When a "slow" explosive is fired in soil 
work, the gases accumulate pressure 
gradually, with the result that cracks are 
opened for long distances underground, 
and there is almost as much breakage 
and crumbling several feet away from 
the charge as close to it. Pot-holes sel- 
dom are formed. 

In stump blasting the "fast" ex- 
plosive (in ordinary heavy soil) tends to 
tear ofiF roots close to the charge and to 
reduce them to splinters, while often 
leaving other roots, or the ends of 
broken roots, in the ground as tight 



as ever, and frequently not splitting 
the body or top of the stump. The 
"slow" explosive lifts the entire mass of 
earth containing the roots, shakes and 
loosens it, and throws upward the roots 
and trunk in pieces of about the right 
size for easy handling. 

No further illustrations are neces- 
sary to bring out the point in question. 
The fact is, it is very difficult to do good 
and economical stump blasting in any 
soil with "fast" explosives, and only 
those explosives adapted to the pur- 
pose should be tried. To an even 
greater degree good soil blasting is im- 
possible with incorrect explosives. 
Recognizing these points, we formulated 
and compounded Atlas Farm Powder, 
and gave it the exact action required for 
best and cheapest results under these 
conditions. Atlas Powder 40 per cent , 
on the other hand, is made for use where 
"fast" action is required for any reason, 
as in mudcapping rock, and sometimes 
for other work in dry sand. 

Strength or Lifting Power. The lift- 
ing power or actual strength of an 
explosive is only a little more important 
than the qualit.y of speed just described. 
The percentage figures included in the 
name and grade designation of an ex- 
plosive are somewhat misleading. A 
60 per cent, powder, although it con- 
tains twice as much of the principal ex- 
plosive material, is NOT twice as strong 
as 30 per cent., because the 30 per cent, 
contains nearly twice as much of the 
other materials which form gases that 
produce pressure when the powder 
is exploded. In stump blasting no 
great amount of difference can be de- 
tected between the strength of 40 per 
cent, explosives and 50 per cent, ex- 

5 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



plosives; or between 40 per cent, and 60 
per cent, the difference in strength is not 
as much as might be expected. Differ- 
ences in violence can be noted plainly, 
however. If the quantity of high per- 
centage explosives is cut down much 
below the quantity of the lower per- 
centage powder required for the same 
work, the efficiency of the charge is low- 
ered. 

The strength of Atlas Powders is 
correct for the work intended. Atlas 
Farm Powder will lift its proper burden 
in a most satisfactory manner. No 
percentage figures are used to describe 
its speed and strength. It produces 
the results desired. That is enough. 

Sensitiveness in a powder is neces- 
sary in order that it may be exploded 
or detonated. Atlas Farm Powder is 
made very insensitive in order that it 
may be safe under all sorts of farm con- 
ditions and in the hands of the average 
farm laborer not experienced in handling 
explosives. It must be fired with a No. 
6 or stronger cap or electric fuze, as 
anything giving a weaker shock will not 
detonate it satisfactorily. Atlas Powder 
50 per cent, is made more sensitive, and 
can be fired by transmitted detonation 
in ditching. Nothing weaker than No. 
6 cap or electric fuze should be used to 
explode it. 

Freezing Point of powder is impor- 
tant, since much farm work must be done 
during cold weather. Ordinary dyna- 
mites chill at temperatures of 50 and 55 
degrees above zero, and when they are 
frozen they cannot be fired satisfactorily 
by any means. (See Thawing, page 7.) 
Atlas Farm Powder is composed of 
materials which rate it with the low 
freezing powders. The convenience, 
economy, and safety of this feature can 
hardly be overrated. Atlas Powder 



which is not of /ow freezing grade will 
chill at about 50 degrees. Low Freezing 
Atlas Powders of all percentages will 
stand considerable cold without having 
to be thawed. 

Stability of powder in storage or in 
holes after loading is a quality often 
overlooked. Atlas Farm Powder will 
not stand long exposure when loaded 
under water, or when moisture is per- 
mitted to penetrate the cartridge wrap- 
pings. While these wrappings are made 
of a heavy paraffined paper and are fur- 
ther waterproofed, any charge that is 
loaded in wet work must be fired 
promptly. Atlas Powder 50 per cent- 
is also carefully waterproofed, and, in 
addition, will not be harmed as quickly 
if water penetrates the stick wrappings. 

The Cost of explosives is an impor- 
tant item to consider, since high per- 
centage and low percentage powders 
generally are used stick for stick. 
There is no economy in buying expensive 
powder for use where it is not needed. 
Atlas Powder 50 per cent, costs more 
than Atlas Farm Powder, but is neces- 
sary for a few special jobs. Atlas Farm 
Powder, however, can be obtained any- 
where for as little money as the cheap- 
est dynamite or ordinary high explo- 
sive. 

Adaptability of the powder to the 
work to be done, it has been pointed out, 
is of great importance. If an explosive 
is used that is not suited for the pur- 
pose, it will fail to accomplish proper 
results, no matter how expensive it may 
be or how well it succeeds for some 
other purpose. This is the respect in 
which Atlas Farm Powder and Atlas 
Powder 50 per cent, excel. They are 
not makeshifts, borrowed from the min- 
ing or quarrying industries. They are 
the original farm powders. 



Shipping, Hauling and Storing. The shipping of pow- 
der of any kind is governed strictly by Interstate Commerce 
Commission rules. . Any farmer who makes a shipment should 
consult his freight agent beforehand as to the regulations con- 
cerning shipments. 



Shipping. A notice of 24 hours is 
required before delivery of the explo- 
sives to the station. Boxes once used to 
pack explosives must not be used for 
shipping any commodity again, under 
penalty of law. Blasting caps or elec- 
tric fuzes must not be hauled on the 
same car that carries powder. Ship- 
ments of powder, caps or fuzes must be 
removed from the receiving station 



within 48 hours after they arrive there. 
If the consignee fails to take them away, 
the railroad is forced by law to move or 
to destroy them. 

Delays in transit often are caused by 
the railroads not having available cars 
which conform with safety rules or by 
the necessity of their having to observe 
other precautions. Buyers of powder, 
therefore, should allow more time for 



Powder Facts — Properties and Appearances 



shipments to come through than would 
be required for ordinary freight. 

Hauling of Powder and Caps may 
be done in any ordinary wagon, though a 
spring wagon is best. They should not 
be hauled together, even though the 
caps are carried at one end of the 
wagon and the powder at the other. 
One should be hauled at a later trip. 
A little straw or a blanket or two in the 
bottom of a wooden bed will help to 
ease the jolts. The boxes should not 
rest on projecting bolt heads or other 
metal. The wagon should be strong, 
and in no danger of break-down, and 
the horses, or engine if truck or car is 
used, should be kept under perfect con- 
trol, A runaway might be disastrous. 
If stops are necessary, the brake should 
be set firmly and if horses are used they 
should be held or tied at all times. Dan- 
gerous roads and especially railroad 
crossings should be avoided, or passed 
over with caution. 

Storing of powder and blasting sup- 
plies on the farm or orchard often pre- 
sents a problem, though it need not 
puzzle one long. A special magazine 
is desirable only where powder is to be 
kept on hand all the time. One can be 
built of brick or stone for a few dollars. 
We will be glad to furnish plans and 



specifications without charge. 

The only vital requirements are that 
the explosives be kept from getting too 
warm, and from getting damp or wet. 
To keep them dry, the floor of the 
storage room should be elevated from 
the ground enough to permit free circu- 
lation of air, and of course the roof and 
sides should be rain- and snow-proof. 
To keep them cool, there should be a 
ceiling to shut off the heat from the 
roof, with provision for free circulation 
of air in the room with the powder, and 
free sweep of air between ceiling and 
roof. An attic or a cellar is a poor 
place to store them. An old hog pen, 
chicken pen, wood house or special out- 
house built for the purpose is good. In 
emergencies they may be kept in a barn 
for a brief time, though we must record 
a warning against such practice. Even 
where the insurance policies do not pro- 
hibit it, danger from carelessness of 
children or other persons should do so. 
Some advantages of magazines are that 
they are fireproof and bullet-proof, as 
well as dry and cool. 

Caps and electric fuzes may be 
stored together, but neither should be 
stored with powder. They should be 
kept in another room, or another build- 
ing. 



Cautions. A few faults are indulged in so naturally that they 
may be pointed out. If you find yourself doing any of the pro- 
hibited things mentioned below quit them at once. There is danger 
in them. If you find anyone else doing them, go away Jrom him 
immediately . 

Don't smoke near powder or detonators. cause exudation of free nitroglycerin 

Keep detonators (caps and fuzes) away or other explosive ingredients, caus- 

from powder. ing headaches.) 

Don't let caps or fuzes fall. Don't space charges too far apart in 

Don't expose powder, caps or fuzes to heat transmitted firing. It leads to dan- 



of sun or stove. 
Don't expose powder directly to sun. 
Don't drill or dig out a misfire. 
Don't punch or grind anything against 

a cap. 
Don't handle wet powder. (Water may 



gers. 
Don't try to fire charges with weak caps 
or weak fuzes, either those deteriora- 
ted from poor storage or that were 
not strong enough to begin with. Use 
nothing less than No. 6 strength. 

Thawing Explosives. The chilling of explosives is hard 
to detect by any signs on the surface of the sticks. Freezing, 
however, usually can be detected by hardness, either in spots or 
all over the sticks. In cold weather press the sticks with the 
thumb. If there is a uniform springy feeling, the chances are that 
the powder is not frozen. Often the hardness of freezing is ac- 
companied by whitish spots which help to show the frozen condi- 
tion. The best plan is to be suspicious of any "high freezing" 
powder whenever the temperature is lower than 50 or 55 degrees, 
and to take measures to keep it warm or to thaw it in case it is 
frozen. 

7 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

Although frozen powder is generally room, provided the heat that reaches 

very insensitive, scraping, cutting, the powder is absolutely under control, 

punching or rubbing may set it off, and at no time gets higher than is com- 

though the same things happening when fortable for the skin. More heat than 

it was not frozen might have no effect. this likely will cause deterioration of 

Therefore sticks that are frozen must the powder, and may cause an explo- 

be handled carefully, and as little as pos- sion. The more slowly that powder 

sible before th.awing. On no account is thawed, the less liability there is for 

should they be broken, punched or cut. deterioration. The ideal thawing tem- 

Thawing may be done in the special perature is between 70° and 80° F. 
thawing kettles which we can furnish, Another effective method of thaw- 
or in any of several home devices. The ing, though a good deal of trouble, is 
most convenient for small lots of powder the old-fashioned manure pile. This 
is made of two buckets and a blanket. consist of a large box, with tight lid. 
One bucket should be considerably buried in fresh horse manure that is 
larger than the other, though the small heating. Into this larger box, the box 
one should be big enough to hold the of frozen powder should be laid. About 
sticks of powder on their sides. Fill the 24 hours, at least, is required for thaw- 
larger bucket half full of water as warm ing. 

as the hand can comfortably stand, but Freezing and thawing, when the 

no hotter, then set the small bucket thawing is done at a low temperature 

containing the powder in it, and cover (slowly), should not damage powder ap- 

both with the blanket. preciably. Quick thawing may damage 

Thawing may be done in a warm it. 

Danger. Powder, and the handling of powder, is not par- 
ticularly dangerous. Intelligent following of directions is neces- 
sary. There is no room or excuse for experimenting, "to see if it 
will go off or not." Powder represents an enormous force con- 
fined in small bulk, and as such should be respected. If the direc- 
tions in this book are followed, there will be no cause for regret. 

Ninety per cent, of all accidents that The above paragraph on thawing 

ever happen in connection with powder tells how the one class of accidents ma\- 

are caused in just two ways — by im- be avoided. We warn repeatedly in this 

proper thawing of frozen powder, and book against approaching misfires be- 

by failure to follow directions in the foremany hours have elapsed. Seepage 

handling of misfired charges. 59 for hints regarding misfires. 

Preparing Powder Charges (Priming) 

Charges for all kinds of blasting — -ditch, stump, soil, boulder 
and miscellaneous — are prepared in the same way. Here we tell 
how the powder, caps and fuse, or fuzes (electric detonators), 
should be arranged, up to the point of loading. Directions for 
loading for every purpose will be found in each division under the 
proper subject. 

Priming With Cap and Fuse 

Fuse must be cut to the required length, one end must be in- 
serted in a cap, the cap crimped on the fuse, and then inserted in a 
stick or part of a stick of powder, and the fuse tied to the powder. 
This primed powder may or may not be enough for the charge. 
If more is needed, it requires no priming. Detailed discussion of 
best practices in each operation follow. 



Powder Facts — Properties and Appearances 



Collecting Materials and Tools. The first thing is to 
collect in a small box, easily carried, or in a basket, the following: 



Blasting caps (keep in original box). 

Roll of fuse. 

Cap crimper. 

Knife — must be sharp. 

Twine or string. 

Tallow or soap (only when charges 
go in damp or wet ground). 

Small wooden punch (see description 
later). 

Gloves for handling the powder. 

These materials should be kept to- 
gether at all times. If in a box, the box 
should have a bail or handle so it may be 
picked up quickly and carried easily. If 
a basket is used, it should have a piece 



of blanket or canvas bag in the bottom, 
or better still, oil cloth or rubber sheet, 
to keep out dampness from the ground. 
Another piece of waterproof material 
should be carried along to cover tha 
basket from sun and rain or dew. Carry 
nothing but matches in pockets. 

In another basket or box carry along 
what powder may be required. It is 
best to keep the caps and the powder in 
different boxes. When a large number 
of sticks are needed in the job, carry 
the powder in its original box and do not 
disturb the sticks till the actual priming 
and loading is to be done. 



Examine Powder, Fuse and Caps. Powders not made 
on the low freezing formula will chill or freeze at temperatures 
lower than 45° or 50° F., as noted fully on page 6. In this condi- 
tion they should not be handled unnecessarily, and the sticks must 
not be cut or broken. To do any of these things is dangerous. 
If cold powder shows hardness when pressed with the thumb, the 
indications are that it is frozen, and it must be thawed as directed 




In cutting fuse from roll use a Taking one cap carefully from Inserting fresh end of fuse in 
sharp knife. box. cap. 

on page 7 before anything more is done with it. Atlas Powder 
50 per cent., of the straight nitroglycerin type used in transmitted 
ditch blasting, is an example of the kind which must be kept warmer 
than 50 degrees when fired. Atlas Farm Powder very seldom 
freezes. 



Inspect the blasting caps. They 
should be L.ight and c!e ai, and will be 
in first class condition if they have been 
stored in a dry place. If they have been 
in the damp, they may be weak. If 
the shells are corroded, or there is any 
reason to think that dampness has 
weakened them, it will save you time 
and money to secure a fresh stock. 

Fuse also should be inspected. If 
it has been damaged bv excessive heat or 



by dampness in storage, it will not carry 
the fire properly. Don't unroll fuse 
when cold. Warm it first. Cut off a foot 
or more and fire it without a cap. It 
should burn at the rate of 2 or 3 feet to 
the minute, though it may burn much 
slower than this and still be serviceable 
provided it bums regularly and surely. 
If the test shows that it will not carry the 
fire down reliably, a new fuse should be 
provided. 

9 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Cutting ruse. The shortest length needed for any charge is 
enough to reach to the mouth of the hole. If the hole is short it is 
necessary for the blaster to assure himself a sufficient time to reach 
a place of safety. Three feet of fuse, if it reaches to the mouth of 
the hole, is generally enough. 



The end of the fuse which is to go in 
the cap must be cut off clean, with no 
dragging sides or threads. 

A sharp knife does this best, with the 
fuse laid on the edae ot box or on a 



block of wood. For cutting only a few 
dozen fuses, a pocket knite is as good as 
anything; for hundreds, a sharp hatchet 
is better. 

The cut should be made square. 




In fastening cap to fuse the best With a wooden pincer or the cap crimper punch a 

method is to use our special crimping hole 2 inches deep straight down in the end of the 
tool. (See page 127.) cartridge. 

Cutting Sticks of Powder. There is no danger in cutting 
unfrozen sticks of Atlas powders. The paper wrappings may be 
slit with a sharp knife with entire safety, and the sticks divided 
into as many pieces as required in order to get the right charge. 



To cut a stick, apply the edge of a 
sharp knife to the paper and roll the 
stick under the knife, as a length of green 
twig or limb might be rolled in cutting 
the bark. It is not necessary to cut en- 
tirely through any of the powder. The 
stick then will break in two almost under 
its own weight. To cut the wrappings 
lengthways, in order to make the sticks 



swell to fill holes snugly, draw the knife 
from end to end. (See illustration page 
48.) 

Be sure, in cutting sticks of powder, 
that they are not frozen. There may be 
danger in cutting and there isin breaking 
frozen sticks of powder. After they are 
thawed they may be cut with the same 
degree of safety as before freezing. 



Fastening on Cap, When the fuse is cut, hold it point 
up and slowly slip on a blasting cap. Be sure there is no dirt in 
the cap. Let the cap rest gently on the fuse, of its own weight, 
and be sure to avoid twisting or pressing the end of the fuse 
against the detonating material in the bottom of the cap. It is 
bad practice to stick the end of fuse or any other small object 
into a cap in order to get it out of the little tin box that caps are 
packed in. The box should be tilted on the hand till several 
caps slide partly out, then one can be picked up with the fingers. 



When the fuse is fully inserted in the 
cap, it must be fastened there by crimp- 
ing 5 to J inch from the open end of the 
cap; never near the end that contains the 

/O 



charge. The cap crimper we supply docs 
this to perfection, making a joint that is 
almost water-tight, but still not gripping 
the fuse so tightly as to shut off the 



Powder Facts — Properties and Appearances 



spark. Every job should have its cap 
crimper, and if there is much blasting to 
do, an extra one should be kept in re- 
serve, in case the first is lost. 

This is the only safe and secure way 
to attach a cap to the fuse. The prac- 
tice of using a knife or the teeth for 



this purpose invites disaster, and is to 
be strictly condemned. The charge 
contained in a detonator is a very 
powerful high explosive, very sensitive 
to shock, heat or spark. Should a cap 
explode while you are holding it the 
loss of vour hand mieht result. 




Tie together the ends of a piece Make a clove-hitch around Put another clove-hitch in 
of thin twine. the cartridge with the twine. the other end of the twine. 

Putting Cap and Powder Together, Called ^'Prim- 
ing.'' The cap, with the fuse crimped to it, may go into the side 
of the stick of powder or into the end. We recommend the end 
method, as when properly done it eHminates the possibility of the 



ft 




^.-* 



Put the cap and fuse 
through this hitch and into 
the hole in the cartridge. 



Then slide the hitch up 
until the cap is pushed 
down tight and the fuse 
is bent as in the illustra- 
tion. 



Pull everything tight; in wet 
work plaster a little Kapseal or 
tallow around the top of the cap 
after it has been crimped to the 
fuse and also around the fuse 
where it enters the cartridge. 



cap being pulled or pushed out of the cartridge during loading or 
tamping. 

This method of priming is shown clearly in the illustrations on 
this and the preceding page. 

The hole in the cartridge should be made so that the cap may 
lie as near directly up and down in the charge as possible. If made 
slanting or across the stick the tletonation may be poor on account 
of the way the cap points. 



The hole should be no larger and not 
much deeper than the cap, but it must 
be large enough to let the cap in easily. 
Cap crimpers usually have one handle 



pointed so it can be used for punching 
these holes in sticks of powder, but we 
recommend that a wood punch be used 
instead. The chief reason is that the 

n 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



nitroglycerin which gets on the crimper 
handle may help to cause headache if 
later pressed against the skinof the hand. 
A punch can be whittled out of any piece 
of solid wood in a few minutes. It should 
be 5 or 6 inches long, to give a good hold. 



twine around the cartridge and fastening 
it to the fuse. 

The important point is to see that 
the pull upon the fuse comes against the 
cartridge and that the cap cannot be 
pulled out of its proper position. 




Bad method of fastening wires. It is better 
to tie them. 

When the hole is made, insert the cap. 
It should go in until it is all covered, but 
not deep enough to let a part of the 
fuse touch the powder. (If fuse 
touches powder, the latter, instead of 
exploding, may catch fire and burn like 
oil, giving forth poisonous gases.) 

Note carefully in the illustrations 
how the cap and fuse is secured to the 
powder by hitching a piece of strong 



Bad position of cap in stick, and of cap 
wires. 

Under no circumstances pass the fuse 
through the stick, loop it about the 
stick or double it back from the lower 
end at the time of loading. Improper 
priming may shoot the charges, but 
there are sure to be misfires. Besides 
that, many charges which seem to go 
off alright in reality develop but part 
of their full strength owing to some of 
the powder burning. 



Waterproofing. Whenever charges are to be loaded in wet 
ground or where water will cover them, the joint of cap and fuse 
must he made watertight. It is also well to waterproof the break 
in the paper wrapping of the stick where the cap is inserted. 




Waterproofed (tallowed) sticks ready for loading in wet holes. 



Tallow is an excellent material for the 
purpose. Where it is not to be had, or 
costs too much, soap or even stiff blue 
or yellow clay may be used. Axle grease 
and heavy lubricating greases and oils 
should not be used as thev often soften 

/2 



the covering, ruining the powder train 
inside the fuse. 

This primed powder is ready for load- 
ing, as described under the different 
headings. 



Powder Facts — Properties and Appearances 



Electric Blasting 

The firing of charges ot powder by electricity is not a new 
practice. It has been in use for many years. Only of late years, 
however, have small, easily carried, reliable machines for making 
the current been on the market at low prices. Many blasters do 
not make use of electric firing for stump, boulder, ditch and other 
agricultural blasting, even though it often has many advantages. 



Priming Charges for Electric Firing 

(Priming with Fuzes or Electric Detonators) 



The essential points in priming for electric firing are identical 
with the priming with cap and fuse. The fuze must be inserted in 
the stick of the powder in the same way, and the leading wires must 
be fastened to it. 

A fuze is a cap with two insulated copper wires attached to it. 
Cap and wires cannot be separated. The wires, unlike fuse, may 
touch the powder without setting it on fire. To fasten them to 
sticks they may be tied with the clove hitch as fuse is tied, or 
they may be looped through and around sticks. The only pre- 
cautions necessary are to see that no half-hitches are taken, and 
that no pull whatever comes on the cap, either endways or side- 
ways. The pull should come on the stick directly from the wires 
at the point where they are tied. 

A little slack between where they are tied and where they enter 
the cap is good. If the wires are half-hitched or crossed under 
pressure they may rub off their insulation and short circuit, caus- 
ing a misfire. 

The Advantages of Electric Firing are (a) the in- 
stantaneous exploding of the charges when the blasting machine 
is worked, and (b) the simultaneous exploding of two or more 
charges. 



Blasts can be timed at will just as a have seen instances where, on account of 

gun is fired at the instant desired. a misfire with fuse, it was necessar\' 

The operator can save his own time as either for someone to assume grave risks 

well as that of his helpers. They do not or for work and traffic to be tied up for 

need to wait for many minutes after several hours at an expense of many 

retiring to a safe distance. Along a dollars. When the firing is electric the 

road or near buildings there is no neces- blaster can order his helpers back, watch 

sityforsendingoutguards or for holding till the road is vacant for a few minutes, 

up traffic or movement about the and then fire the blast in an instant, 

vicinity for an indefinite time. Fuse After he has pushed down the handle 

sometimes hangs fire, and when it does of the blasting machine and the 

all workmen and others must stay away charge has exploded all danger will be 

from the place for hours to be safe. We over. 

JJ 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



In case a damaged fuze does cause 
a misfire and the charge fails to explode 
when the handle of the machine is 
pushed down, the wires should be dis- 
connected from the blasting machine, 
and after 15 minutes' wait an investi- 
gation to locate the trouble can be made. 
Traffic or movement in the vicinity can 
then be resumed. Perhaps half of all 
the accidents that occur with blasting 
materials are caused by carelessness in 
approaching unexploded blasts where 
fuse hangs fire. The probability of this 
kind of accident is eliminated after 
waiting 15 minutes when firing elec- 
trically. We cannot emphasize too 
strongly the convenience and safety 
of this method. 



1 


^~0- 




/ 




a .? a a. a/ 


/ 




^[ra'g^t series conriect'on ^or 
use i/^fC/) i)/asCtn^ machine 




fi-\ -^=^^AAA/ 


:3 


y \ Cxa'T'pieiorzigzag 
^ ^ ; series connections 


\, 







Ways of connecting charges for electric 
firing. 

The total number ot misfires is 
greatly reduced by electric firing, since 
most of the usual causes which prevail 
with cap and fuse firing, such as damp 
and damaged fuse or caps, are elimi- 
nated. The electric method should al- 
ways be used when firing under water. 

Aside from transmitted (propagated) 
firing in ditch blasting, the electric 
method is the only practicable way there 
is of securing simultaneous explosions of 
two or more charges of powder. Trans- 
mitted ditch blasting can be relied on 



only when the ground is warm and full of 
water, but electric ditch blasting is 
successful at all times. In most stump 
removing the firing of two or more 
charges together is a great help, since 
the blasts can be hitched short to the 
load. Instead of placing one big charge 
under the middle of the stump and trust- 
ing that the roots will hang together till 
all are pulled loose, a light charge can be 
placed under each main root to pull it 
loose, and another can be placed under 
the trunk to split it, then all can be fired 
together. Less powder is required, 
holes in the ground are smaller, roots 
are pulled out cleaner, and broken 
better. 

The loading of these several small 
charges is easier than of one big charge 
because straight bar or auger holes usu- 
ally are big enough without enlarging. 
When one big charge is used, there is 
difficulty in getting it concentrated at 
the right spot. The use of several light 
charges under the main roots is the only 
practicable way of getting out big long- 
rooted stumps such as pine and some 
oaks, particularly if they are green and 
in loose soil. 

In rock blasting the use of two or 
more charges on large boulders, and in 
ledges, often makes good work possible 
where single charges would fail to ac- 
complish satisfactory results except at 
an extremely high cost. Thus two 
undermine blasts under a longrock often 
will break it well from end to end; or a 
mudcap and an undermine charge can be 
made to break thick boulders almost im- 
possible to reduce in any other way at 
reasonable expense. 

Electric firing saves work, saves 
time, saves powder, does away with 
most of the usual dangers and makes 
blasting more convenient. Finally, re- 
sults are better than are possible with 
fuse and cap firing. 



Sources of Electric Current for Firing. Atlas electric 
blasting machines are small enough to be carried anywhere, and 
cost so little that anyone who has blasting to do can afford one of a 
size suitable for his work. They are made to produce exactly the 
right voltage and amperage of Current needed for firing the desig- 
nated number ot electric fuzes. 



These machines are small wood or 
metal boxes containing generators and 
other necessary mechanism. The Altas 
Little Giant machine will fire up to 4 
charges at once, measures 8j by 5j by 
3| inches and weighs 4j pounds. The 
No. 2 United States Standard machine 
will fire up to 10 charges, measures 1\ 

14 



by 8f by 14 inches and weighs 15 
pounds. The No. 3 machine will fire up 
to 30 charges, measures 1\ by 9f by ISf 
inches and weighs 25 pounds. Larger 
machines that will fire up to 150 charges 
can be furnished. Instructions for oper- 
ating and caring for the machines are 
furnished with them. 



Powder Facts — Properties and Appearances 



Dry batteries can be used to fire a 
single charge at a time, provided the cells 
are fresh and full strength. Wet bat- 
teries and generators of automobiles can 
be used to fire single charges in emer- 



gencies. Electric light or power cur- 
rent can be made to fire almost any 
number of charges. Write us and our 
Service Division will give you full di- 
rections. 




Connecting the wiring with blasting machine. The electric fuze wires are connected 
together in series and the outside wires of the end fuzes are connected to the leading wires 
and these to the blasting machine. 



Equipment Required, Besides the electric blasting ma- 
chine or connection from a power or light wire, electric firing re- 
quires fuzes, connecting wire and leading wire. The latter is 
heavy insulated copper wire intended for carrying the current from 
the machine to the blast, and should be long enough to permit the 
operator to stand in a safe place — usually 250 feet from blast is con- 
sidered safe. Duplex leading wire, the most convenient form, has 
two insulated strands of wire wrapped together in a third insulating 
layer to form one big strand. Single leading wire must be doubled 
for use, hence must be twice as long as double wire. 



Connecting wire is lighter copper 
wire than that just described, and has 
thinner insulation. It is intended for 
connecting in a series the different 
fuzes in the charges making up a blast. 



Electric fuzes are copper shells or tubes, 
like blasting caps, made with two wires 
4 feet long attached to them. The pic- 
tures on page 127 show all these articles 
plainly. 



Wire Connections for Electric Firing. When a blast- 
ing machine is used, which will be for nine-tenths of all electric 
firing, the charges must be connected together in a series. That is, 
each charge must be connected to another one, and so on until all 
to be fired together are joined, with one fuze wire on each end free. 
These two free wires are then connected to the leading wires, and 
the other end of the leading wires to the blasting machine. 

/S 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



When light or power current is used, 
write us, giving its voltage and amperage 
and the number of charges to be fired. 
A rough sketch of the proposed blast 
will permit our experts to give the exact 
information you will find necessary. 

To make a good electrical connection 
between wires, twist them together tor 
an inch or two as shown in the pictures. 
Do not loop them. The right-angle twist 
made by holding the two ends of wires 
almost parallel, and then twisting them 
together with thumb and finger, prob- 
ably is quicker accomplished. 

Poor connections will cut down the 
amount of current that reaches the 



fuzes, and may cause misfires. All 
proper care should be used to secure 
firm contact between freshly scraped sur- 
faces ot wire ends. Dirt or corrosion on 
the wires, and loose twisting, will cause 
trouble. Bare places on wires must be 
kept off the ground. Breaks in the lead- 
ing wire should be repaired by twisting 
together the ends, then soldering them, 
and finally wrapping with insulating 
tape. 

The manner of preparing charges 
(priming) with fuzes is explained on 
pages 10 and 1 1 , and the loading for each 
different purpose is explained under the 
proper division. 



A very bad connection — a cause of misfires. 




Good connection for small fuze wires and large leading wire. 
/ 



16 



The Cost of Stumps, Boulders and Swamps 

THE COST OF STUMPS, 
BOULDERS AND SWAMPS 

Clean Cultivation., The gain in time, convenience and 
economy of cultivation perhaps is the greatest single factor in the 
cleaning up of obstructions from cultivated land. To understand 
its importance, it is necessary to contrast present farm conditions 
with those prevailing twenty to thirty years ago. At that time 
a man could be hired to do farm work for a dollar a day, and the 
time he lost dodging stumps and stones and turning out for 
swamps did not amount to so much. All these things are changed 
now. Wages of farm helpers average nearer three dollars a day 
than one dollar, and minutes wasted mean dollars in extra expense 
and loss by the end of the season. 




When the stumps are as thick as the hay piles or the shocks of wheat or oats or corn there 
is something the matter with the farm system. They are boarders who never pay bills. 



Wide-cutting implements must be 
used in order to increase the amount ot 
work that one man can accomplish, but 
they cannot be used with satisfaction 
where stumps and boulders interfere. 
Engine tools especially are helpless where 
there are obstructions. They cut wide 
tracks and cover big acreage in a day 
when everything goes right, but they are 
delayed unreasonably and are in need of 
repairs continually where there are 
stumps and stones. Plowing with 
engines is impracticable when anything 
remains in the ground to catch the 
points. If shares do not break, beams 
will bend. Harrows get torn up in a 
short time if the teeth can catch any ob- 
structions. Mowers and binders will 



stand no hard hauling when the guards 
are against obstructions. Something has 
to give way when an engine is checked, 
and it is the implement or machine more 
often than the root or rock. 

Every farmer who thinks of hitching 
anything stronger than two horses to 
his implements must plan to take out 
every obstruction before he begins work. 
Only after that job is done can he 
realize the economies possible through 
speedy operation. It will not do to wait 
until the machinery strikes, with the 
idea of marking the place. To take that 
course usually means the buying of 
enough repairs to pay for the clearing. 

Almost all engines are helpless in 
soft ground. Wet spots in fields can- 

17 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



not be tolerated when engine tools 
are used, for turning out is not always 
practicable. The machines must go 
straight through to be economical. 
If this reason is not enough for eliminat- 
ing the excess moisture, another can be 
seen by looking over a cornfield for 



water on the surface. While they are 
naturally rich in plant food elements, 
they are in such a condition that none of 
their fertility is available. 
Swamp Land nearly always is productive 
when the surplus water is drained off. 
Under present conditions in the agri- 




This is idle, tax-eating land. 



The use of Atlas Farm Powder will turn this into a fertile, crop- 
producing field. 



instance, those parts that are not well 
drained. The plants may be 6 feet high 
on the dry parts of the field, dark green 
and thrifty, but on the wet areas they 
grow 2 or 3 feet high only, and are of a 
sickly yellow color. 

Gullies are almost as bad as swamps to 
cut large fields into pieces that must be 
farmed separately. To turn teams or 
engines often is to lose time. Patch farm- 
ing is poor business. Crop costs can be 
kept down only where the work can be 
done to the best possible advantage, 
which means on long, regular-shaped 
pieces of ground. 

Gullies represent a loss from erosion 
as well as in the way just described. The 
most fertile of the surface soil from the 
ground adjoining the actual ditch is 
likely to be carried away in every gully, 
and this action continues as long as the 
gully remains. The loss of further soil 
and fertility can be stopped and econ- 
omy and convenience of tillage of the 
entire field can be secured by filling up 
thegullies and preventing their rewash- 
ing through proper blasting. 
Hardpan and clay spots, like wet spots, 
can be located easily by observing crops 
any time after they have begun to grow. 
In dry weather they dry out so much as 
to stunt plants; in wet weather they hold 

/8 



cultural world, it will pay for the neces- 
sary ditching within two or three years 
at most. For the first ten years after 
draining, such land is like newly cleared 
ground — full of a store of fertility that 
will produce big crops with little cultiva- 
tion and fertilizing. It does not need to 
be rested or rotated, and may be kept 
in money crops every season for some 
time. 

The Net Increase in Crop Yield which 
the removal of obstructions will bring 
about is startling to anyone who has not 
investigated. 

To bring out the point, it may be 
said that almost every stump and large 
stone will prevent crops from growing 
on almost a square rod of ground. In 
terms of corn, a stump displaces 8 to 15 
hills. Ten stumps or stones to the acre, 
therefore, occupy about 6 per cent, 
of the total crop space and decrease the 
yield by that much. Since the net profit 
often is only about lOper cent.of a crop, 
an increase of 6 per cent, produced by 
taking out these few obstructions is 
equal to an increase of 60 per cent, in 
the net profit. To carry the idea still 
further, if the crop income from the ob- 
structed land has been $1000 a year it 
just as easily should be $1600 a year 
after the ground is cleaned up. 



The Cost of Stumps, Boulders and Swamps 



The gain always should be compared 
to the net that is left after cost of culti- 
vation and other items are deducted, for 
these costs are rather decreased than in- 
creased on the clean land. An extra 
profit of $5 or $10 an acre does not look 
like much when compared to the total 
sales price of a crop worth ?40 to $80 an 
acre, but it has a different appearance 
and meaning when compared with the 
part of the $40 or $80 that stays in the 
bank after the costs are paid. 
Idle Land of any kind owned in connec- 
tion with productive land, whether it lies 
in the shape of a square rod here and 
there occupied by a stump or in blocks 
of many acres that are too wet to farm, 
makes a drain on the income from the 
whole property. The owner should not 
forget that such land is not self-support- 
ing. To make this land productive 
results in a double gain — the expense is 
cut off and a profit added. 
Weeds, Appearance, Sale Value Other 
ways in which stumps, boulders and 
swamps cost money are in the weeds 
they harbor, the ragged appearance of 
the farm which they are largely respon- 
sible for, and to a certain extent a general 
lowering of the level of farm life. Ob- 
structed farms rent for less money than 
clean farms. Thev alwavs sell for less — 



and the decrease is out of all proportion 
to the cost of cleaning up the waste land. 

A powerful factor in keeping farm 
boys satisfied is to make their homes 
and their working surroundings attrac- 
tive and convenient. Boys seldom leave 
clean farms for town life; it is the ston>-, 
stumpy, swampy place that goes against 
boy nature. Stumps and swamps har- 
bor all sorts of vermin, including the 
moles and mice that destroy an enor- 
mous volume of grain and grass the 
country over. 

The cost of removing a stump is 
small compared to the cost of keeping 
it, and the same statement applies to 
stones and swamps. The damage these 
obstructions do can be measured in a 
dozen different ways. It is by no means 
confined to loss of time in cultivating 
and of crops that might grow on the 
ground occupied, though these items 
each year amount to enough to pay for 
the cleaning up in a great many cases. 
The gain must be a matter of personal 
experience to be appreciated. It can be 
illustrated by what one Missouri man 
said about the removal of some stumps 
on his farm. "It cost $80 to take the 
stumps off my farm," he told us, "but 
I wouldn't take $500 and have them 
back again." 




The next procss is stumpi removal. The quickest, cheapest method is blasting. The 
use of Atlas Farm Powder will also imnrove the soil by deepening the top soil and permitting 
it to supply abundant plant food readily. 



Clearing and Draining Land This Year 



The present conditions have brought 
about changes in the business of farming 
which react particularly to the ad- 
vantage of the owner of idle, cut-over 
and iogged-off land which is capable of 
producing staple or special crops. The 



demand for food materials has so in- 
creased that prices have reached a very 
profitable level. 

A few years ago the margin of profit 
in farming was slim and land clearing 
hardly paid. This is proven by the 

/9 



Better Farming with x'\tlas Farm Powder 



census figures as shown by the aver- 
age farm income. Today the differ- 
ence between the cost and selling price 
of a bushel or ton of farm produce is 
in most lines two to twenty times what 
it used to be. There is money waiting 
for everybody who has crops to sell. 

Agricultural conditions the world 
over are such that this condition is going 
to continue for at least ten years. The 
world's surplus of foods and feeds has 
been consumed and destroyed. The 



owner of rich, new ground has a very 
great advantage, because he can secure 
yields, and big ones at that, with the 
application of less hours of labor to each 
acre. His cost therefore is low at a time 
when prices are high. 

The sum of the matter is that con- 
siderable stump land and swamp land 
can be cleared and drained this year at a 
cost that will be returned by one or two 
years' crops; then will follow many 
seasons in which just as high prices 




A stump in a field "kills' a square rod of ground, or more. The roots may not take up so much 
space, but the weeds and briars that grow about it do. 



farming business of Europe has become 
disorganized to the extent that fifteen to 
twenty millions of people over there who 
formerly were fed with European home 
products must now depend on America 
for their daily bread. If American far- 
mers do not produce the food, those 
people do not eat. 

As it affects unimproved fertile land, 
this situation brings about an unusual 
opportunity. New ground has a store 
of fertility which makes it yield enor- 
mous crops with little cultivation and 
fertilization or rotation compared to the 
requirements of old land. As soon as the 
stumps are off, or the surplus water 
drained away, new ground can be 
planted to money crops, and for several 
seasons can be kept in them without 
rest or interruption. The virgin fertility 
can be capitalized at a high rate under 
the present conditions of the world mar- 
kets. If left idle for ten years it may not 
bring nearly so much. 

The labor market is such that inten- 
sive tillage methods, the only econom- 
ical methods of inducing heavy yields 
on old ground, are now too costK' 
over a large part of the country. The 

20 



should prevail, and during this period 
yields should be as high as at first. The 
clearing itself takes some extra labor and 
money, but by avoiding the use of many 
men, using instead labor-saving mater- 
ials and methods, it can be accomplished 
before time to put out crops next spring. 
Money put into clearing is a sound and 
high paying investment at present. 

Swamp and stump land is not salable 
nor will it pay its current expenses, let 
alone interest on the money invested in 
it. Its pasture value is a delusion as long 
as the obstructions remain. It cannot 
support many stumps or much swamp 
area, and many animals at the same 
time. The way to market such land, 
either by sale or in its products, is to 
clear it up. Ifitis worth ?5 an acre with 
the stumps on it, it should be worth J30 
to $100 an acre without them. The 
clearing is not to be regarded as an ex- 
pense or an item chargeable to upkeep, 
but as an investment to the same extent 
as the purchase of additional clean land 
would be. 

The next ten years will see agricul- 
tural conditions the like of which have 
not been known for a long time. 



Better Blasting of Ditches 



BETTER BLASTING OF 
DITCHES 

The making of ditches by blasting is easier even than stump 
blasting. The details can be learned quickly by blaster or work- 
men, little equipment is required, and the results are very satis- 
factory. The advantages of the blasting method, and its place 
in comparison with other methods, will not be discussed at this 
point (see page 35), but we want briefly to describe the appearance 
of a blasted channel. 



The ditches made with one line of 
holes usually measure about twice as 
wide at the extreme top or surface of 
the ground as they are deep. In gravelly 
and sandy ground the sides slope in- 



A properly blasted ditch looks like a 
shovel or machine job without the 
piles of excavated dirt along the sides. 
Anyone who has not seen a blasted ditch 
can have no idea of the characteristic 



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The result of cutting sod and roots along ditch sides before blasting. Shovel, axe or hay- 
knife may be used. A man can cut a rod along one side in about two minutes. After the sides 
are cut a proper blast will scoop out the dirt clean, but leave the earth outside the cuts undis- 
turbed and firm. 



ward at the bottom to a point, or are 
within a foot of one another, making 
ditchesof theshapeof alow,flat V. In 
loams and clays the bottoms of blasted 
single-line channels usually are two or 
three feet wide, and somewhat rounded, 
and the sides are steep, making U- 
shaped ditches. The slope of the sides 
as left by the blasts usually is just about 
what it must be permanently in the par- 
ticular soil. 

The sides are clean cut and the bot- 
toms are smooth. Usually there is some 
loose dirt on both bottoms and sides, 
but since this is even all along, with no 
ridges, the water flow is not obstructed. 



true lines or finished appearance. One 
or two properly loaded experimental 
ditch blasts should convince the man 
who hesitates to adopt this method. 

Tools Required. The box or basket 
of small items necessary for priming 
charges, described on page 9, should 
be the first thing provided. In addition 
the following are needed: 

A sharp-pointed crowbar 4 or 5 feet 
long, about 1\ inches in diameter, pref- 
erably round. 

A wood tamping rod 5 or 6 feet long 
and If or 1; inches in diameter. 

A soil auger, such as is described and 
pictured on page 39. 

21 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



A sledge is needed to drive and 
loosen the bar in dry or stony 
ground. 

Two or more posts or stakes. 

String, like mason's line, about 200 
feet long. 

Gloves, for handling the powder. 



If the ground is clean, nothing more 
will be required. 

Where there is a stiff sod, a long- 
handled shovel or spade, and perhaps 
a hay knife, will be needed. Where 
trees or brush grow on the ditch line an 
axe also may be useful. 



Two Methods of Firing Ditch Blasts 

One is the electrical system; the other the cap and fuse system 
in connection with transmitted firing. We will describe each sep- 
arately. 




Typical loading of ditch blast for straight electrical firing of all charges for 31' x 7' ditch. 

Ditching when Powder is Fired Electrically 

The conditions necessary to consider are the kind of powder to 
be used, the depth and spacing of the charges in the ground, the 
amount of powder to the charge, the nature of tke soil, amount of 
water present, temperature of air and ground, and obstructions 




Typical test loading to determine proper charges and placing of explosives for electrical 
firing. Note the variations in spacing between holes as well as in amount of explosives used. 
(See page 27.) 

such as boulders, ledges of rock, stumps, sod and roots of trees and 
brush. 

Under this method each charge is primed with an electric fuze. 
The work should proceed as follows: 

Collect tools, powder and supplies, including an electric blast- 
ing machine and necessary wires. 

Lay off ditch with stakes and line. 

Cut sod and roots, if any, at ditch sides, with plow, hay knife, 
spade or axe. 

Make holes in ground for test shot with bar or auger at proper 
ilistances and to right depths. 



Better Blasting of Ditches 



Load charges and connect wires. 

See that people and animals are at a safe distance, then fire. 
Inspect results, and throw out any big stones, roots or sods. 
Make more holes after calculating best loading from test, and 
repeat other operations. 



Soils. Ditches can be blasted 
through any kind and condition of 
ground except dry sand. 

The most economical blasting can 
be done in ground full of water to the 
surface or to within a few inches of the 
surface, and of a heavy, tenacious na- 
ture, such as clay. Muck blasts out 
easily. The least economical blasting is 
done in sandy and other loose soils, par- 
ticularly when they contain no standing 
water. Clay is a little harder to blast 
out when dry or only damp than when 
soaked. If convenient, it pays to wait 
for wet weather before ditch blasting is 
started. When ground is full of water 
the cost is less in several wa\ s. 



The nature of the soil from the 
standpoint of the possibility of making 
a ditch by blasting (except dry sand) is 
not important, though it is important 
from the standpoint of the manner of 
loading. Thus a blaster or farmer can 
proceed to almost any field (except a 
sandy one in dry condition), and, after 
determining the size and location of the 
charges required, will have no difficulty 
in shooting out the channel. But if the 
natureof the soil changes halfway across 
the field, as, for instance, if one-half is 
watersoaked and the other is not, or if 
one part is clay and the other gravel, 
the manner of loading must be re-deter- 
mined for the new conditions. 




A 4-foot ditch opened out in fine shape through stiff clay in a meadow. Note the clean 
edges of the ditch, and how well the soil is scattered instead of banked up along the edges as it 
would be from plowing or shoveling. 

Laying Out the Ditch and Making Holes. The line 
which the ditch must take should be determined with all proper 
care in respect to drainage requirements and other factors. 



A blasted ditch should have a grade 
similar to a ditch made in any other way; 
it needs no more fall. The line as finally 
determined should be marked with 
stakes. A string should be used to 
guide the bar or auger. Without it 
time will be lost in sighting. A con- 
venient length for such a string is about 
two hundred feet. 

The nature of the soil must be taken 
into consideration in selecting the man- 
ner of making the holes, for much time 
may be lost and much extra work 



caused by trying to do this work 
with inconvenient equipment. In soft, 
watersoaked ground, such as muck and 
clay free from stones, there is nothing 
better than a straight, round four- or 
five-foot bar. No sledge is needed. 
If there are stones, the sledge may 
be useful in breaking them. The hole 
should go down to within an inch or 
two of the right depth or level. If the 
line of holes is shifted to one side or the 
depth of the holes vary, the ditch will 
be crooked, or uneven in the bottom. 

5? 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



In all stony ground the bar and 
sledge combination is excellent. The bar 
usuallycanbeloosenedifit gets fastened, 
simply by hammering it from different 
sides. Another plan is to use an imple- 



withdrawn. The only satisfactory way 
of getting the charges loaded right in 
such ground is to use a tube or pipe big 
enough to fit over the bar. The hole 
mav be made with the bar fitted in 






DUPLEX DITCHING DRILL, or BAR. (Pat. April 17, 1917.1 Holes in loose gravel, 
sand and muck can be made and loaded with this drill without any trouble whatever from the 
usual caving in of the sides. The drill consists of two parts — a bar and a casmg, as shown in 
the picture. The bar is solid, with a drop forged steel point. The casing is a steel tube into 
which the bar fits. The combination is pushed or sledged into the ground as though of one 
piece, the casing being carried along by a stop-ring welded on the bar near its top. When the 
drill is down far enough, the bar is pulled out of the casing. Then the powder is dropped to 
the bottom of the hole right through the casing, and is held down in place with the tamping rod 
while the casmg is pulled up. Loading with this drill takes only about two minutes to the hole 
in muck. For further information write Atlas Powder Company, Wilmington, Del. 

ment consisting of two wheels and an the tube, or with the bar first and 
axle, with a "tongue" that extends about then enlarged with the bar in the 



a foot over the axle at the short end. 
The other end may be as long as de- 
sired; 10 feet usually is satisfactory. A 
chain bolted to the short end can be 
half-hitched to the bar and the bar 
pulled with little effort. Other good 
implements are posts or tripods 
carrying a similar lever and chain, 
or just a second bar to run through 
a loop of the chain. 

In hardpan and rock, regular rock 
drills are needed. They are described 
on page 69, and may be bought ready 
to use, or may be made at home. 

A measuring stick of the exact length 
of the proper distance between charges 
should be provided for each workman. 
Any less particular spacing will be 
costly in powder used, and may cause 
inferior work. 

In clay and other heavy soil con- 
taining few stones, the holes will remain 
clear for several hours if desired, and no 
trouble will be experienced in getting the 
powder to the bottoms. In muck and 
other light soils, particularly in gravel 
and loose, soaked sand, the sides of the 
holes will cave in the second the bar is 

24 



tube. After proper depth is reached, 
the bar can be withdrawn and the 
powder dropped down the tube, and 
held in place with the tamping rod while 
the tube is taken out. 

A soil auger is useful chiefly for fin- 
ishing holes in more or less dry ground 
such as heavy loam or clay free from 
large stones. Pebbles do not interfere 
with its use. The first foot or two usu- 
ally can be punched with a bar, but 
deeper holes are hard to make without 
an auger. 

Wherever there are sod, roots ot 
trees or brush in the ground, it pays to 
cut along the line of the proposed ditch 
before blasting. Without cutting, espe- 
cially in light ground, the sod tends to 
fall back into the excavated channel, 
even though all the dirt is blown out 
from beneath it. Pieces up to two feet 
wide often will fail to tear loose from the 
bank. Roots break somewhere In the 
channel width, usually near the mid- 
dle, but fail to break at either or both 
sides. 

The cutting can be done speedily 
with a hav knife where there are not too 



Better Blasting of Ditches 



many stones. Spades or long handled 
shovels are good for the purpose, 
though slower. An axe is needed for 
cutting off roots larger than an inch or 
two. The cut should not be straight 



down, but at a slant such as you want 
the side of the finished ditch to have. 
The powder will clean out the ground to 
the cut, and will leave that beyond solid 
and unbroken. 



Powder: Kind and Amount Required. For all elec- 
tric ditch blasting except in very light soils, Atlas Farm Powder has 
advantages over any other grade of explosive. 



To a considerable extent the su- 
periority cf the electric firing method is 
due to the possibility of using this com- 
paratively low-cost powder, instead ot 
the more expensive straight nitrogly- 
cerin powder of high percentage which 
has been recommended exclusively for 
ditchmg. 

In very light soils, such as light 
loams with little moisture in them, 



other grains. For such soils, Atlas Pow- 
der 50 per cent, is recommended. 

This same 50 per cent. Powder is 
recommended where charges must be 
left more than half an hour under water 
before they are fired. Sticks of Atlas 
Farm Powder, as noted on page 6, are 
waterproofed with care, and will stand 
immersion in water for considerable 
periods of time. Yet prolonged soaking 




Proper blasting will open a channel through thick brush and grass, though such a ditch will 
not measure nearly so much in the clear as if the land were clean and free from roots. You 
can make channels for boats or for drainage through a marsh where the ground is under 
water. (Kentucky.) 



and in wet, sanJy land, a more vio- 
lent powder will throw dirt out better 
than Atlas Farm Powde» That is, ow- 
ing to the poor resistance offered by 
these loose, open soils. Atlas Farm 
Powder, which applies its strength 
more slowly, is handicap;""^d by the 
sand or fine dirt sifting back into the 
excavation. Heavier charges will over- 
come the trouble, but on big jobs it has 
been found that a cheaper way is to use j 
ordinary charges of a powder which has 
a speedier action — which starts each | 
grain of the sand or dirt so fast that it ■ 
flies clear of the ditch independently of ^ 



may permit the water to leak through 
seams in the paper wrappings ot the 
sticks, and once the powder inside gets 
wet, it will start to weaken immedi- 
ately. For this reason, where the 
loading is done through swamps or 
brush, or on big jobs where long series 
of charges are fired together, with much 
time required for connecting the wires 
or completing the loading of each 
shot, the powder used should be of a 
nature not quickly damaged by water 
that may get inside the wrappings. Atlas 
Powder 50 per cent, will stand consider- 
able soaking without deterioration. 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Atlas Powder 50 per cent, must not instance, however, a slight change in 

be used, however, when the temperature the manner of loading, as recommended 

of air or ground is lower than 50 degrees. in the following pages, will permit 

In fact, a safer limit is 55 degrees. Atlas Farm Powder to do its usual 

A great many different explosives superior, more economical work. 
have been recommended for blasting The following table gives average 
ditches during past years, and others figures for the amount of powder re- 
doubtless will continue to be recom- quired per charge for making ditches 
mended by people who have tried them of various widths and depths. It should 
in a few ditches. Sometimes the re- be used for extra wide and extra deep 
suits compare favorably with the work ditches. See also the explanations on 
done by Atlas Powders. In almost every pages 27 and 29. 

Powder Required Per Charge and Depth of 

Loading 

Ditch Dimensions: 

Width of Ditch, Feet 2 2^ 3 4 5 6 

Depth of Ditch, Feet 3 4 5 7 9 12 

Powder Charges: 

Depth of Loading, Inches 15-18 24-26 30-33 36-42 48-52 60-70 

Space Between Charges, Inches. . 30 30 36 42 48 52 

Sticks per Charge f 1 1| 2 5 3h-4l 




Ditch blown through sandy loam at Wilmington, N. C, with Atlas Powder, by Holly Shelter 

Land Co. 

should be in case the amount of powder 
per charge is increased for any reason. 
The longer the spacing, the less holes 
there are to make, and the fewer fuzes 
required. The spacing should be even 
and accurate. To guess may be expen- 
sive. A measuring stick should be used. 
We have no intention of naming any 
"best" charges, or manner of loading, 
since the exact number of ounces of 
powder and of inches between charges 
necessary in any circumstances can be 
determined on/y by test blasts. The 
table above can be used as a guide in 
loading the first trial shot. 



These figures apply to average wet 
clay and clay loam. The amount of 
water in the ground, the texture and 
structure of the soil, the ground temper- 
ature and the kind of powder used all 
have influence in modifying the amount 
of charge and the distance between 
charges required for the best results. 
In only a few instances will the exact 
amounts and spacing given here be the 
best that can be used. 

The figures for spacing of charges 
are about the minimum that will be re- 
quired. In many instances they can be 
increased with economy, and usually 

Spacing Between Charges and depth of loading that is 
correct for any particular soil and time, should be determined ex- 
perimentally on each job. No matter how well the first trial shot 
seems to work, the next two or three should be loaded a little difFer- 

26 



Better Blasting of Ditches 



ently, to see if still better excavation can be secured, or smaller 
charges or longer spacing can be used. 



The depth at which the charge 
should be placed in ordinary heavy 
loam and clay is 6 to 12 inches less than 
the desired depth of ditch. Proper 
ditch blasts will blow the dirt out 6 
to 12 inches deeper than the charges 
are placed. In case of an open layer 
like gravel or quicksand under stiff 
clay, near the bottom of the proposed 

Loading of Test Blasts 



ditch, however, the charges must be 
placed at the full depth desired for the 
ditch, or even a few inches deeper, as 
the loose material causes a loss of force. 
Where hardpan or rock lies under the 
clay or heavy loam, the blasts will 
clear out the dirt tight down to the 
rock whether loaded down against it or 
somewhat higher in the soil. 

must be relied on to determine 



the exact spacing if the greatest economy and the best excava- 
tion is to be secured. The blaster should put in 5 to 10 charges 
along his ditch line, according to the tables and other directions. 
Depth, spacing and amount of powder per charge should be 
so balanced that the excavation will be complete, the sides and 
bottom of the ditch even and true, without holes under the charges 
or ridges between them, and the material thrown high enough 
to scatter it well. 

should bear in mind that careful loading 
of the right powder will make Straight, 
even, deep channels, and should tiot be 
satisfied with anything short of these 
results. 

Changes of nature and conditions of 
soil as the work progresses should be 
watched for with care. Frequently 
clay gives way to gravel, or more and 
less water is encountered. Any change 
must be met with a corresponding varia- 
tion in the loading, for any one man- 
ner of loading positively will not do 
equally good work under other soil 
conditions. 



Too much powder will throw stones 
and dirt unnecessarily far, which will 
increase costs. Too little will toss the 
material a few feet in the air and let 
it fall back into the ditch again. Too 
deep loading will do the same, leaving 
an excessive amount of broken ground 
in the ditch (6 to 10 inches is not too 
much). . Too wide spacing will leave 
uneven sides and bottom of channel, 
and ridges across the bottom. 

The blaster should repeat the test 
blasts and vary the amount of powder, 
the depth and the spacing of charges 
till the right results are secured. He 




A picture that tells a story of swamp grass damming up a stream, which backs up and floods 
a field, ruining the hay or corn or any other crop which may happen to be there. To dig 
by hand or plow out such a clogged stream-bed is difficult and expensive, but to blast it out is 
the work of one man for an hour or so, at a comparatively small cost. (Mud Lick Farm, Tulian, 
Center Co., Pa.) 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 




Ditch blown through wet soil with Atlas Powder, by The Co-operative Homestead Company. 
Crystal Springs, Florida. 

Loading and Firing Details, Each charge must be 
primed with an electric fuze. It is presumed that the blaster will 
prepare his charges according to the directions on pages 13 and 14. 
Where two or more men are on the job, it is well for one or more 
to go ahead making the holes, after the line of the ditch has been 
staked and lined off, while another brings the powder and blasting 
supplies in the boxes or baskets, and prepares and loads charges. 
Connecting wire is needed for making the return circuit in each 
series of shots. 



Where there is water in the holes, 
which is the usual ditching condition, 
any sticks of powder that are cut or 
have the wrappings broken should be 
made waterproof with tallow, soap or 
clay, as directed on page 12. This is 
particularly important with Atlas Farm 
Powder. If the sticks are waterproofed 
carefully, they should not leak to any 
serious or damaging extent for half an 
hour, which is plenty of time for loading 
and firing a large or long blast. 

A tamping rod a trifle thicker than a 
stick of powder is convenient, as with it 
the loader can test each hole with cer- 
tainty before he drops in the powder. If 
the rod will go down freely, the powder 
ought to. Unless a loader is careful to 
test each hole, and to remove the tamp- 
ing rod gently, as well as to lower the 
powder in the hole without shoving 
it against the sides, considerable trouble 
will be experienced in getting charges 
down to the bottoms of the holes on 
account of caving in of stones and muck. 
Any charges loaded at less than full 
depth will leave high spots in the ditch 
bottom. The loading tube mentioned 
on page 24 should be used wherever 
there is any trouble at all from this 
source. It may seem unhandv and 



slow, but it is almost sure to save time 
in the end, as well as be the means of 
producing better work. 

The amount of tamping material re- 
quired depends on the amount of water 
in the holes and on how wide vou want 



^I 




How the charges should be placed 
for blasting ditches of different widths and 
depths. 



Better Blasting of Ditches 



the ditch. The more tamping there is, 
the wider the ditch will be in proportion 
to its depth. If a narrow, deep ditch is 
desired, the less tamping there is the 
better, though it is well to tramp shut 
the tops of the holes as they are loaded. 
Where water rises to the surface of the 
ground, no tamping is needed in any 
case. Even 8 or 10 inches of water over 
the charges will act almost the same as 
proper tamping. 



on till all the charges are connected, 
then the free ends of the first and of the 
last charges are connected with extra 
wire to the leading wire and thence ro 
the blasting machine. Connections in 
parallel cannot be used satisfactorily 
with a blasting machine as the source ot 
current. 

Where the ditch is within easy reach 
of electric current from a power or light 
station, that source of current some- 




This ditch is a good instance of the speed and efficiency of the blasting of ditches. Three 
men made it complete, as the picture shows — 1000 feet long — in five days. About 400 pounds of 
explosive was used. Much cutting of roots and sod was required. (The Hart E. Hutchens 
Co., New Britain, Conn.) 



When the loading is started, it is well 
to finish putting all the charges for that 
shot into the ground with as little delay 
as possible. The wires should be con- 
nected as directed in the chapter on 
electric firing, pages 13 to 14, the vicin- 
ity cleared of people and animals, and 
the shot fired. ' The blasting machine or 
other current should be manipulated the 
same as in stump blasting. 

Connections in series are correct for 
all ordinary ditches — that is, one charge 
is connected with the next one, and so 



times can be used to advantage instead 
of a blasting machine, particularly for 
making large, long ditches and when 
workmen are numerous. The connec- 
tions in that case likely will have to be 
in parallel (see page 14), though the 
exact handling of such current in each 
case must be figured out by an electrical 
expert who is informed of its voltage 
and amperage. We shall be glad to take 
up the matter with anyone who has 
such current available on a ditching 
job. 



The Finishing of a blasted ditch usually consists only in throw- 
ing out an occasional big stone, root or sod that happens to fall 
straight down instead of off to one side at the time of the blast. 
There will be a few inches of loose dirt in the ditch, but it will 
wash out or compact within a few days after the water starts 
through. In case the channel is not deep enough, however, this 
dirt can be shoveled out, though proper calculations in the first 
place will insure adequate depth being secured by the blast. 

In case the sides have not been cut of the channel. These should be cut 
before the blasting, some roots and sods loose and removed, as they may fall 
may be found projecting into the sides down later and cause the bottom to fill 

29 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



with sed ment. 

Where the new ditch cuts through to 
straighten an old channel, there may be 
places where the sides of the new channel 
are low enough to permit water to flow 
out into the old channel. At such 
places banks should be built up of large 
stones, poles, logs or other material 
that will turn flood water. 

The first flood after the ditch is 



blasted will clean out the channel in an 
excellent manner provided the water 
is forced to flow through it exclusively, 
and the outlet is kept free. There will 
be a large quantity of silt and gravel 
carried down to the mouth of the ditch, 
and, if necessary, provision should be 
made for this in order to prevent its 
checking the free flow of water in the 
ditch. 



Wide Ditches. The table on page 26 specifies 12 feet as the 
widest ditch that may be blasted with a single row of charges. 
Wider ditches up to 20 feet may be blasted out by using two or three 
lines of charges, and under favorable conditions it is possible to 
excavate even 30-foot channels. 



The second line of holes should be a 
duplicate of the first in almost every 
instance. The charges, however, in the 
two lines should not be located directly 
opposite one another, but should be 
staggered or alternated. Spacing be- 
tween the lines should be 30 to 60 inches, 
— usually should be about the same 
number of inches as the depth of load- 
ing. Some blasters prefer to put the 
rows 6 to 12 inches farther apart. A 
double line blast will excavate a ditch 
as wide as a single line blast of the 
same depth of loading, plus the spacing 
between lines and one to two feet more. 

Triple line ditches should be loaded 
the same as single or double line ones. 
The charties should be stasaered, the 



spacing should follow the rules in the 
preceding paragraph, and other details 
should be the same. Some blasters pre- 
fer to use heavier charges in the middle 
row under certain soil conditions. For 
instance, if the charges in the outside 
rows consist of 2 sticks of powder each 
(16 ounces) they use 2^ sticks (20 
ounces) or 3 sticks (24 ounces) in the 
middle row. 

There is no way of determining in 
advance just what the best loading will 
be. Test blasts, as mentioned on page 
27, will establish the facts on each job. 
All the lines of charges should be fired 
together, of course. A large blasting 
machine is needed to fire charges in 
multiple row dirch blasting. 




Two ditches made with Atlas Powder without the use of shovels or scrapers. 



Extra Deep Ditches. Depths of 5 to 6 feet can be secured 
without trouble with ordinary heavy loading. When greater depth 
is desired, double-deck blasting should be practised. This con- 
sists in blasting out a wide ditch of about half the desired depth, 
then blasting again in the bottom of this one to take out the re- 
maining earth. 
30 



Better Blasting of Ditches 



The number of double depth ditches 
that have been made is not great, as 
depths of more than 6 feet seldom are 
required. The usual practice, however, 
is to blast a 2 or 3 line ditch 3 to 6 feet 
deep. Then a one- or two-line blast is 
loaded in the bottom of this. The result 
is a channel with sides sloping evenly at 
the proper angle from bottom to top. 

Experimental shots again are the best 
means of determining the exact manner 
of loading that is best. The blasting 
out of deep channels such as are men- 
tioned is not particularly difficult. The 
loading should be the same and all 
features of the work should be carried 
out the same as for the single-depth 



ditches. The dirt of all correct ditch 
blasts is lifted 100 to 200 feet into the 
nir, hence the comparatively slight 5 
to 6 foot banks of the excavation made 
by the first blast interferes little with the 
work of the second blast. 

In deepening old ditches and stream 
channels the loading should follow the 
same rule of locating the charges and 
determining their depth and size so that 
the new excavation in the bottom will 
be slightly narrower than the walls of 
the old channel above. 

Such blasts are governed by the same 
principles governing ordinary blasts 
loaded from the surface to make new 
channels. 




Showing typical loading of transmitted detonation ditch blast — fuse firing — for 3" x 7' ditch. 

Obstructions in the Ditch Line, such as stumps, clumps 
of brush, trees, boulders, and ledges of rock, should be blown out at 
the same time the ditch blast is fired, but require separate loading. 



A boulder is heavier than the ground 
it lies in, hence requires more powder 
to lift it. If it is to be broken up at the 
same time it is thrown out, still heavier 
loading is essential. vSee page 62 for 
discussion of boulder charges.) Roots 
and stumps bind the soil, and addi- 



tional force is required to loosen and 
split them. (Page 47, in the stump 
section, gives the information on 
charges.) Ledges of rock in the bottoms 
of ditches must be drilled as directed 
on page 70, and may be shot out very 
satisfactorilv. 



Ditching When Powder is Fired With 

Cap and Fuse in Connection With 

Transmitted Detonation 

This method, formerly called "propagated ditch blasting " 
requires no electric blasting machine. Its advantages and dis- 
advantages are discussed on page 34. One charge only in each 
blast is primed with cap and fuse, and all the others of each blast 
are loaded without priming of any kind. 

3/ 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Since simultaneous firing of all 
charges making up a shot or blast is 
necessary for the success in ditching, 
this method depends on the shock from 
the explosion of each charge to put off 
or explode the next charge in the line. 
The usual length of such a blast is 50 to 
100 feet, though under favorable condi- 
tions blasts 400 feet long are fired. 
Shorter sections than 50 feet, of course, 
are fired equally well. 

The work includes the following: 

Collecting tools and supplies. 

Laying off ditch with stakes and line. 

Making holes at proper depth and at 
proper distance for first test shot. 

Cutting sod and roots, if any, along 
sides of ditch. 

Preparing one charge by priming 
with cap and fuse, as directed on page 8. 

Loading holes with proper charges, 
then loading center hole with primed 
stick in addition to regular charge. 

Lighting fuse in any ordinary man- 
ner, after vicinity is cleared of people. 

Inspecting result and making cal- 
culations for correct loading. 

Making more holes and repeating 
later operations on sections of ditch 10 
to 400 feet long at a time. 

The conditions necessary to consider 
are the same as those influencing ditch 
blasting by the electrical method, 
though greater emphasis must be placed 
on the amount of water present and on 
temperature of the ground. 



Temperature. Since the powder 
that must be used in transmitted detona- 
tion ditch blasting in order to secure 
sufficient sensitiveness, will freeze or 
chill at temperatures lower than 50 de- 
grees, this method of blasting ought not 
to be attempted when the thermometer 
registers lower than 55 degrees either 
in the air or in the ground. 

Water in Ground. Air is elastic. 
Water is not. Ground that contains 
much air — that is, ground free from 
water — has a good deal of "give" and 
in consequence deadens or absorbs shock 
from one explosion before it has had a 
chance to reach the next charge. But 
ground containing water transmits the 
shock with little loss in its force. 

These principles govern both the 
selection of ground where transmitted 
ditch blasting is possible, and the spac- 
ing of the charges. It is impossible to 
secure successful transmitted detonation 
where the water does not at least cover 
the charges. Water should rise well up in 
the holes for best results. In clay and 
other finely divided soils the water 
level may be lower than in sand and 
other coarse soils, in which economy 
demands that it rise in the holes almost 
to the surface of the ground. No harm 
is done by a reasonable amount of water 
over the surface of the ground, provided 
the amount of powder in the charges is 
determined by measuring the total depth 
of loading from the top of the water. 




:% "^v^^-^^^^T 






y \ 



Typical loading for deepening ditch with bottom of mud — electrical firing of center charge for 

transmitted detonation. 



The Spacing of the Charges is governed by the distance 
the wave of detonation will carry in the ground, which can be 
determined by test. Roughly it is half the spacing used when 
charges are fired electricallv. 



The table on following page will serve 
as a basis for making the first trial blast, 
but we wish to emphasize that the con- 
dition and nature of the ground in each 
case is of the greatest importance. For 
example, charges of one stick of powder 
sometimes will detonate successfully 
when as far as 24 inches apart, or even 

33 



farther, but in another soil, even in 
the same ditch at a point where there is 
less water, they may fail to detonate 
when spaced 15 inches apart. For 
reasons of economy it is important to 
space the charges as far apart as full 
and complete detonation will permit. 



Better Blasting of Ditches 



Powder Required Per Charge, and 
Loading Details 



Ditch Dimensions: 

Depth of Ditch, Feet 1 ' 

Width of Ditch, Feet 3" 

Powder Charges: 
Sticks per Charge. 



5 



1 



3,4 56 

6 8 10 \ 12 

U ' H I 2-3 \2>h-S 
15-20 16-24 18-28 18-30 



Space Between Charges, Inches. 14-16 14-18 1 14-20 

Depth of Loading, Inches 16 20-22124-26 30-33 36-42 48-52 '60-70 

The Amount of Powder Per Charge is noted in the 
table, but this is another factor which can be determined with 
accuracy only through trial in the ground to be blasted. 



It will be noted that the amounts 
given as the average are only slightly 
smaller than those given in the table on 
page 26, for electrically fired ditch blasts. 
Our figures here are derived from 



records of much actual field work. 
They should meet unfavorable condi- 
tions. Where the ground is heavy, 
hangs together, and is full of water, 
less powder often will do the work. 



Kind of Powder* Atlas Powder 50 per cent, straight is recom 
mended for ditch blasting when charges are fired with cap and fuse, 
by means of transmitted detonation. No less sensitive explosive can 
be depended upon to detonate when this method is used. 



page 27, are im- 



per charge should be changed till the 
excavation is judged to be perfect and 
the amount of powder and work re- 
duced down to a minimum. 

Watch for change of soil nature and 
conditions as the work progresses, and 
vary loading accordingly. 



Test Blasts, such as are described 
portant with transmitted ditch blasting. 

A test blast should include 8 to 10 
charges. The spacing should vary, and 
careful observation of the blast and in- 
spection of the result should be made 
to note any charges that fail to explode 
or that explode with less than full 
force or throw dirt too high and far. 
Depth of loading and amount of powder 

The Loading is easier than for electrical firing. One charge 
must be primed with cap and fuse as directed on page 8 and 
should be well waterproofed. Any cut sticks also should be water- 
proofed. The holes all should be made before loading is started, 
as only a few minutes are required to put the powder in the ground 
and to prepare for firing. All holes must be clear of fallen dirt and 
stones, and the loading tube mentioned on page 24 should be used 
where material tends to cave in. 



It usually is best to begin loading the 
unprimed charges of powder at one or 
both ends of the section of the ditch to 
be shot in that blast. All the holes but 
one near the middle of the blast should 
be loaded in this way, then the primed 
charge should be loaded in it, on top 
of an extra stick of powder. Some 
blasters also place an extra stick in each 
of the two adjoining holes. 

As water must cover the charges, 
tamping is not important unless the 
widest possible ditch is required, when 
the holes may be tamped tight and solid 



to the top. When no tamping is used, 
the top of the hole should be tramped 
shut immediately after the charge of 
powder is seated at the bottom, in order 
to prevent double loading of some holes. 
Firing of Transmitted Blasts is 
done by lighting the fuse of the center 
charge. Great care should be taken to 
clear the vicinity of people and animals, 
and to put guards on roads that pass 
near the blast. Stones of considerable 
size often are thrown a hundred feet 
or more into the air. The man who 
lights the fuse and his helpers should 

33 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



watch upward as the dirt rises, so that 
they may be able to dodge stones coming 
down toward them. 

A blasting machine and fuzes can 
be used to fire these center charges 
electrically if desired. They have the 
advantage of timing the blast to the 
second, and resist water better. 



Other details, including cutting the 
sides of the ditch when there is sod 
or roots, finishing the channel as men- 
tioned on page 29, making the holes 
with bar and sledge, soil auger or other 
methods as mentioned on page 23, 
should be done just the same as when 
the charges are fired electrically. 



Extra Wide and Deep Ditches can be blasted by the 
transmitted detonation method when ground conditions are right, 
the same as single Hne ditches. 



The two or three rows of charges 
should be spaced as directed on page 30. 
To fire them together, however (which 
must be done), extra charges must be 
loaded between the rows at the middle 
point where the primed charge should be 
placed. These serve to carry the wave 
of detonation from one row to another. 
The extra charges should contain one 
more stick than the regular ones in the 
line, and it is well to put an extra stick 
in each one of three charges in every row 
or line. 

Where an electric blasting machine 
can be secured it is well to fire the two 
or more rows with it by priming the 
center charge of each with a fuze, and 
firing them together in ordinary series. 
See page 13. 

Obstructions, such as boulders, 
stumps, logs or other solid objects or 
materials, will stop the wave of detona- 
tion. It is necessary, therefore, in addi- 
tion to loading extra powder under the 
obstructions as directed on page 31, to 
handle the line on both sides of each ob- 
struction in separate blasts; or, in other 



words, to load one primed charge after 
each obstruction. 




Vhat happens when dry sand is blasted- 
poor excavation. 



Miscellaneous Points on Ditch Blasting 
by Both Methods 



Loading Charges Off Center Line of 
Ditch. Sometimes the ground on one 
side of a ditch line will be higher than 
the other side, or one side may be 
more solid and heavier than the other. 
Such conditions are found often in cut- 
ting through old stream channels. To 
blast straight through such places, 
the line of charges must be shifted a 
few inches toward the high or firm 
ground, as that side will present a 
greater burden. 

Speed of Ditch Blasting. Those 
not familiar with the work required 
to blast ditches will be interested 
in the speed that may be made by 
one or more men. We usually estimate 
that two men working together, blasting 

34 



by the electrical method, in wet soil re- 
quiring a bar and sledge for making 
holes, but containing no stones that 
make punching difficult or that cave in, 
will make a ditch 3 feet deep and 6 feet 
wide at the rate of about 600 feet a day. 
In muck the work will go faster, because 
the making of holes, which is the big end 
of the job, requires Httle effort and time. 
In rock ground and in ground too dry to 
be penetrated easily by the bar, as well 
as in sands and gravels where the load- 
ing tube is needed, the work will go 
slower. Double-line ditches require 
twice as long and triple-line three times 
as long. 

Blasting Ditches for Tile Drains. 
Blasting is not a practical method of 



Better Blasting of Ditches 



making trenches for laying tile. It 
leaves the bottom of the channel too 
loose, makes it unnecessarily wide, and 
scatters the dirt too much for easy fill- 
ing in. 

This statement by no means implies 
that blasting is not of considerable value 
in the tiling of land, however, for there 
are several ways in which it will help. 
Light charges may be used to loosen 
hard ground without throwing it out, 
after which the excavating may be done 
with shovel entirely, without any dig- 
ging being required. See theSubsoiling 
Division, pages 82 and 89, for details of 
proper loading to accomplish this. 

Another plan where tile is to be put 
down 3 or 4 feet or more, is to blast 
shallow, narrow ditches along the line, 
leaving about a foot in the bottom to be 
shoveled out. The tile then can be laid 
in the narrow shoveled trench, and to 
fill, the dirt can be scraped from several 
feet on each side with a road drag, road 
machine or land grader. 

i' Where the tile will not be laid for a 
year or more, the ditch should be 
blasted out as usual. During the 
months following blasting th^-, bottom 
will compact in excellent -ondition, 
and the pipe can be laid satisfactorily 
later on. 

Subsoil Drainage. In this connec- 
tion it is proper to mention that both 
tile drains and open ditches can be made 
more effective in heavy, soggy ground 
by subsoil blasting the ground between 
drains. Breaking it up in this manner 
permits the surplus water to find its way 
more easily and quickly to the drains. 
See page 77. 

The depth of any drainage ditch 
should bear a well-understood relation 
to the height of standing water desir- 
able in the particular soil. Thus in 
clay the water table may be lowered to 
6 feet or more below the surface, and 
still the moisture will rise properly in 
dry weather, but in muck the water 
table should be lowered only H to 2 feet 
below the depth of the majority of 
feeding roots. 

To Correct Streams ditches need not 
be blasted out very large, even for 
creeks of same size and for small rivers. 
The water will wash loose and carry 
away the dirt and gravel in the sides 
and bottom of a ditch once it has a free 
flow with fair fall. A ditch 6 to 12 feet 
wide, and deep enough to catch a foot 
of water from above usually is big 
enough. 

It is well to watch the sides or the 
banks of newly made stream channels. 
Stumps, big boulders, stony banks and 



clumps of bushes may deflect the flow 
of water against a soft bank with the 
result that after a time the channel gets 
crooked. A little work in removmg ob- 
structions now and then will prevent 
uneven side cutting. 

The Wind may be made to help 
spread dirt thrown up by a ditch blast. 
If it is blowing across the line it will 
carry to one side considerable of the 
material. Such action is desirable when 
most ot the dirt is wanted on one side 
only. The wind influence also may 
carry over some dirt that ordinarily 
might fall back into the channel, hence 
may secure a few inches more depth of 
excavation. 

Comparison of the Two Methods. 
At the present time, owing to conditions 
prevailing in the markets for practically 
all materials, electric ditch blasting is 
almost always cheaper for the same job 
than transmitted firing, because lower 
priced powder can be used. Many con- 
siderations enter into a choice of 
methods, however, and we shall name 
them in order that everyone can decide 
for himself which is best. 

For electric firing the holes are 
spaced about twice as far apart as for 
transmitted firing, which means that 
only half the number of holes need be 
made. When holes are hard to make, as 
in dry or stony ground, or where gravel 
caves in, the saving in labor is a big 
item, amounting to a third or more of 
the entire job. Against this saving, 
however, must be charged the extra 
time needed to prime each charge with 
fuze and to connect the wires, for it 
must be remembered that transmitted 
firing requires only one primed charge 
for each shot. 

Convenience as to when the job may 
be done, and certainty of its being done 
well, are all on the side of electric blast- 
ing. When electric firing is depended 
on, the work can be done at almost any 
time men are available or when the 
ground is not frozen hard. 

To compute the comparative costs 
of both methods, it is necessary to con- 
sider differences in the price of Atlas 
Farm Powder and Atlas Powder 50 per 
cent., the cost of a fuze for each hole as 
against a comparatively few blasting 
caps and a few feet of fuse, the varying 
amounts of each powder that may be re- 
quired, the labor time required to prime 
charges, and the labor time required to 
make holes. The cost of an electric 
blasting machine cannot all be charged 
rightly to any one job, because it de- 
preciates very little, and can be used for 
other ditches, for stump and boulder 

3S 



Better Farminc; with Atlas Farm Powder 



blasting, or it often can be sold for 
nearly as much as it cost. 

Choice of a method sometimes is de- 
termined by the nature of the ground. 
When the ditch runs through extremely 
soft swamps or through badly tangled 
brush and briars, the connecting of 
wires sometimes takes sufficient extra 
time to justify the use of the other 
method, which requires only one wad- 
ing through. On the other hand, con- 
ditions much more often are found 
where transmitted firing is impossible 
owing to the light nature of the ground 
and the impossibility of doing the work 
when it is wet enough. Electric blast- 
ing always is sure to yield the desired 
results. 

Blasting Compared to Other Meth- 
ods. The blasting method of ditching 
has numerous advantages, which entitle 
it to a place on most farms. It is not, 
however, recommended to do all kinds 
of ditching under all kinds of conditions, 
or to do away withother reliable and eco- 
nomical methods. 

The making of trenches for immedi- 
ate laying of tile drains already has 
been cited as one job for which blast- 
ing is not best suited. Another is the 
digging of miles of large ditch through 
unobstructed ground where such a 
machine as a floating dredge can be 
purchased and used to advantage. What 
a "large" ditch is, from this viewpoint, 
will vary with the circumstances. It 
can be said, however, that the cost of 
blasting increases out of proportion to 
the increase in the size of the excavation 
when the depth is greater than 5 or 6 
feet and the width greater than 16 or 
18 feet. 

Note table on page 26. An experi- 
enced blaster can blast a ditch as small 
as 18 inches deep and 21 feet wide. 
The maximum should be fixed at 8 or 
10 feet deep and about 20 feet wide, 
though widerexcavationsof short length 
(such as ponds) have been blasted out 
frequently by taking advantage of a 
high wind which carries the high-flung 
dirt to one side. 

The Michigan Experiment Station 
found that in a certain representative 
soil two men could dig by hand a rod 
and a Haifa day of ditch of a certain size 
which we know could be blasted out by 
the same two men at the rate of 30 to 35 
rods a day. The blasting method gets 
the job done, instead of the draining be- 
ing postponed. It gets it done with the 
labor at hand, without the trouble of 
hunting up extra men (they cannot be 



found in many localities). In fact, 
blasting makes possible the digging of 
ditches now that otherwise might not 
be dug for a generation. The work 
can be done in spare, time on farms, 
when planting, cultivating, harvestmg 
and other operations are not pressing, 
simply because it can be completed in 
a few hours or da}s. 

In general the worse the ground 
conditions, the greater the advantages 
of the blasting method. Soft ground 
where horses or machines cannot be 
taken is thrown out to the ver\' best ad- 
vantage by powder. Trees, brush, 
briars, stumps, boulders and ledges of 
rock which make excavating machinery 




A typical instance of what results from an 
attempt to blast a ditch through heavy sod 
without first cutting the sides. The sod 
breaks loose in the middle of the ditch and 
either folds back without tearing loose or 
falls into the ditch after the dirt beneath it 
has been swept away. Such ground should be 
thoroughly watersoaked and the edges of the 
ditch cut with shovels or hay-knife, or at least 
by plowing furrows. (Virginia.) 

and plows helpless can be thrown out 
by blasting. 

The cost of a blasting machine and 
its equipment is small compared to the 
cost of ditching machinery, even of the 
simplest character. Unless the length 
of the ditch to be dug is great, the in- 
vestment in such machinery increases 
the overhead on the job to a prohibitive 
extent. Not so, however, with blasting, 
for which just the required amount of 
supplies, and no more, may be bought. 
When the job is ended, the equipment 
on hand need not inventory more than 
$25, and on small jobs can be kept to 
half of even this small figure. 



36 



Better Blastinc; of Ditches 



EVIDENCE 

"The cost in digging ordinary ditches with dynamite is less than half the 
cost of hand digging." 

MICHIGAN EXPERIMENT STATION. 

"The quickest way to dig a ditch, no matter what the kind of soil, is to use 
explosives. The dirt is nearly all thrown out and scattered over the land, if 
desired, leaving no ridges or heaped-up stuff along the sides." 

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles. 

"I have made almost a mile of open ditches 5 feet wide by 314 feet deep with 
Atlas Powder. It is easier and quicker than hand digging. My longest ditch 
is y2 mile long, and does its work perfectl)." 

■ W. A. SCHOCK, Falls City, Neb. 

"During the past few months we have used several tons of Atlas explosives 
in making ditches, blowing out stumps and subsoiling. Among other things we 
have made some three miles of ditch. We have found Atlas explosives thoroughly 
satisfactory." 

THE CO-OPERATIVE HOMESTEAD CO., Crystal Springs, Florida. 

"We have used Atlas Powder to dig about thirteen hundred feet of ditch this 
spring. The price of digging b\' hand would have been prohibitive, had we been 
able to secure labor. The ditch was left in such a condition that we have had to 
do nothing more with it." 

RENOUF RUSSELL, Mondamin Farm, Keene, N. H. 

"Last August we blasted nearly 100 rods of ditch, some 3 to 4 feet deep and 

4 to 8 feet wide, and a ie-w stumps, using 500 pounds of your Atlas Powder. The 

ditch blasting was a perfect success, also the stump work. I shall be pleased at 

any time to sav a word of praise both for your explosives and vour treatment of me." 

ZENAS W. P. FARRAND, Essex Junction, Vt. 

"The ditching work done bv us recently with your Atlas Powder was a great 
success and really surpassed our expectations. We blew out a ditch 225 feet 
long, four feet wide and three feet deep with only 60 sticks. This work was done 
in about two hours from start to finish. A prettier and more even ditch could 
not be made with a shovel." 

W. D. WEBSTER and S. C. WEBSTER, Nevada, Mo. 

"We have used Atlas Powder with extremely good results in draining the 
Holly Shelter swamp. We have blasted one canal about a mile long, averaging 
eight feet deep and ten feet wide, and are now blasting another canal in which 
Atlas Powder is working even better than in the first. This canal is fifteen feet 
wide and ten feet deep. We shall also use Atlas Powder for a good many smaller 
ditches." 

ROYAL C. REMICK, Manager, Holly Shelter Land Co., Wilmington, N. C. 

"A ditch blown on my place with Atlas Powder 60 per cent, has been very 
satisfactory. It was run about 2600 feet in meadow bottom which before re- 
demption was a swamp of cedars, maples, etc. Below the surface were many 
stumps and roots. The work was about as difficult as can be found in ditching. 
To have run this same ditch bv hand would have entailed such enormous expense 
as to be practically prohibitive." 

H. B. WEAVER, Burlington, N. J. 

"On my farm October 15th one man with three helpers blasted a 600-foot 
ditch about 4 feet wide at the top and 2>i feet deep in about five hours, with 
Atlas Powder. We got a perfect ditch. I have about 600 feet more to dig, which 
I am going to do in the Spring, using Atlas Powder. When we get the other 600 
feet dug the job will be worth at least JIOOO to me. I certainly would recommend 
that any land owner use Powder in ditch digging. 

VrS. ^DARLING, Auburn, Maine. 

« 

37 



Better Stump Removing 



BETTER STUMP REMOVING 

The removal of stumps and the clearing oi land by blasting is 
a simple, speedy process, which anyone can accomplish easily. 
One or more charges of powder must be placed in the ground 
under the roots, tamped tight and fired, and the pieces dis- 
posed of. 



Such a brief statement of the opera- 
tion would be enough, were it not that 
roots may be lett in the ground or other 
imperfect work result from careless or 
unwise loading, and this is found to be 
expensive in money, time and labor. 
Skill and knowledge bring clean, com- 
plete work, and also economy. Few 
farmers who use explosives avail them- 



selves of all the best blasting practices. 
There is meat in a study of this mat- 
ter by contractors and employers, for 
they can save powder and time by mak- 
ing clear to their workmen all the factors 
which go to make perfect blasts. There 
is almost equal advantage in a full un- 
derstanding to the men who do the work, 
for knowleilLre will cut down the labor. 




By using Atlas Farm Powder you can break the largest stumps into pieces ready for the fire 
the same as the stump shown above. 

The Tools Required. It pays to get the right tools before the 
work is started, as much time may be lost and a great deal of effort 
expencied uselessly in trying to place charges under stumps with 
poor tools. This does not mean that a costly outfit is needed; 
rather it means that the few tools required should be of the right 
type and size. 

powder itself had better be carried to 
the field in its original box or boxes, ex- 
cept that where only a few sticks are 
needed they should be carried in another 
box or basket. To follow these rules 
requires little or no extra work, and al- 
most always saves trouble and expense. 
For Making Holes in the ground per- 
haps the most useful tool is a crowbar, 
but with the soil auger a close second. 
The bar usually had better be sledged 
into the ground after the hole is started. 
A 10-lb. sledge is about the right weight. 
The bar should be made of steel, 



On page 10 we have pointed out the 
necessity for a Cap Crimper (when 
blasting caps and fuse are used), for 
a small wood punch to make cap holes 
in sticks of powder, for tallow or 
other waterproofing material when the 
charges are to be loaded under water or 
in very wet ground, and for a box or bas- 
ket in which to carry caps and fuse or 
fuzes and other small supplies. All the 
light equipment and materials should be 
kept together to prevent them getting 
lost and to avoid any danger that might 
come from them getting tramped. The 

38 



Better Stump Removing 



and should be 1| inches in diameter. 
It may be either round or octagon — 
preferably round, as that shape comes 
loose the easier. The point should be 
only a couple of inches long, though it 
should be sharp. (See illustration be- 
low, Fig. 2.) Unless the steel is good, 
the end hit with a sledge will chip off 
badly. 



A Scraper can be made from a 
J- or f-inch iron rod, 5 or 6 feet long, 
with a handle ring turned on one end 
and the other fastened and bent at 
right angles. (See illustration, next 
page.) 

A Long-handled Shovel is useful in 
cleaning off the ground where the 
holes are to be made, and in getting 



E 



^^^^K>\>sK*^*^ 



Fig. 1. — Pipe shaft soil auger. 



The Soil Auger, as illustrated in 
Fig. 1, should be 1| inches in diameter, 
though where very large stumps only 
are encountered, a 2 inch or even a 2^ 
inch auger may be more convenient. A 
soil auger differs from a wood auger in 
having a point 2 to 4 inches long instead 
of § inch and in having a steeper pitch. 



damp clay or other soil for tamping 
purposes. Good tamping may be im- 
possible if no shovel is available. (See 
illustration, next page.) A grub hoe and 
axe are desirable on some jobs. Where 
the holes are to be made in loose ground, 
sand or thin muck, a loading tube may 
be useful. Last, but by no means least, a 



M 



Fig. 2.— Punch bar. 



An old wood auger with a long shank 
welded on will do in an emergency. 
The standard tool is the one best 
suited for this work. We can either 
ship direct or give you a nearby ad- 
dress where you can secure this tool. 



probing rod is needed. This is a straight 
piece of steel about 5 feet long, with a 
T or ring handle on one end and the 
other end sharp. It may be j or f inch 
in diameter, and had better be of spring 
steel. An old hay-rake tooth straight- 



'i(^$diiia^^%«= 



a 



Fig. 3. — Pipe shaft wood auger. 



The Tamping Rod ?nus' be of wood. 
A metal one is objectionable, and may 
be a source of danger or at least trouble. 
An old broom stick or hoe handle 
makes a good one. All that is required 
is a piece of straight wood 4 or 5 feet 
long, an inch or 1 J inches in diameter, 
with one end cut off square. 



ened out makes a good one except that 
it is a little heavy. 

The tools may be carried where only 
a few stumps are to be blasted, but 
when there is a half day's work or more 
to do, it pays to load everything in a 
buggy or at least a cart or wheelbarrow, 
and haul them to the field. 



Investigating Stumps, The first thing to be done In every 
instance is to learn the nature of the stump above and below ground, 
and the nature and condition of the ground it stands in. 

5!r» 



The variety of tree is important; also 
whether the stump is green or decayed, 
sound or rotten, and if rotten, whether 
it is in one or more pieces and if hollow. 
Jarring the top with sledge or foot will 
tell something of the underground situa- 
tion. Knowledge of woods and stumps 
will tell more. The probing rod, how- 
ever, is the real telltale, and should be 
used on every stump. By probing in 
the ground a blaster can find where the 
roots lie, and something about their 
condition, and can locate the best open- 



Fig. 



4. — T pipe-handle for wood and soil 
augers. 



ings between roots for the holes. This 
importance of the use of the probing 
rod as an economy measure can hardly 
be over-emphasized. Those blasters 
who do not use one, thinking it not worth 
carrying along, should try it regularly 
for a dav or two. 

39 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

Nature and Condition of Ground. When powder ex- 
plodes, the gases escape the easiest way they can. When one side 
of the space or pocket they are in is solid and firm and the other 
side more or less open or insecure, they blow out the weak side 
and disturb the firm side very little. To put it another way, they 
push out through the ground or roots in the direction and by the 
path that ofi^ers the least resistance. 



■Bi 




3 11 



The upper picture shows a spoon shovel. Lower pictures show a scraper of iron from 
enlarging bottoms of blast-holes. Courtesy of The Sandpoint Experimental Station, University 
of Idaho. 



To loosen roots embedded in the 
ground, therefore, gases must be con- 
fined under the burden to be lifted with 
sufficient weight and strength so that 
they will push against or strike the 
wood with the required power, or in the 
case of long, deeply buried roots, so they 
will lift the whole area of earth contain- 



tically as much resistance to the gases 
as the roots themselves, hence the 
charges need not be any deeper than re- 
quired to place them under the roots. 
In clay that is dry (which is easier pene- 
trated by gases, hence in which the 
confinement is not quite so strong and 
close) slightly deeper loading is advis- 




Placing several charges under a big green stump (for firing with an electric blasting 
machme). Notice primed stick of powder, sledge, bar, shovel, and tamping stick; also blaster 
pulling out auger to clean hole. 



ing the roots and shake them loose. 
Some kinds of ground hold the gases 
better than others. For instance, clay is 
not penetrated easil)-, while sand is. 
Water helps to close the pores of the 
ground and to confine the gases. 

In stiff, damp or wet clay, therefore, 
the charges need not be placed very 
deep. In fact, such ground offers prac- 

40 



able. In sand the charges must be deep 
enough so that depth of covering will 
make up for lack of confinement. VVater- 
soaked sand is not so bad in this respect, 
but dry sand calls for careful, deep load- 
ing. Other soils range between clay 
and sand. 

Frozen Ground. The blasting of 
stumps may proceed when the ground is 



Better Stump Removing 



frozen so long as the crust is not too 
thick for easy making of holes. Two or 
3 inches does not greatly hinder opera- 
tions. The roots seem to come free 
from the ground and the stumps break 
up better under such conditions than in 
summer. Atlas Farm Powder is par- 



ticularly satisfactory for this cold 
weather blasting, since it requires little 
or no thawing. Since fall and winter, 
or early spring, often are the times 
when there is least other farm work to 
do, stump removing in many instances 
can be done then to advantage. 




Typical tap-root stumps, with the dirt washed away. To ;,, , ,,, m out the charge must 
be located against the big root, four or five feet below the surface of the ground. Two charges 
to each root are better than one, though either loading will cut o£f the root. 

When Blasting Benefits Soil. An explosion in soil, like 
plowing it, may benefit it from a tillage standpoint when dry, and 
harm it when wet, though this is not true of all soils in equal degree. 
The explanation lies in the fact that wet soil parks under the pressure 
of the gases, but dry soil crumbles and breaks apart. 



The pot hole or cavity underground, 
familiar to anyone who has blasted in 
wet soil, is largely due to the wet condi- 
tion. The earth surrounding the charge 
for at least half a foot is driven into the 



■j^M 


i»^ 


HR 


^ 


^y 


mL 



surrounding earth, with the result that a 
hollow is made, surrounded by com- 
pacted, hard walls like those of a jug. 

The test for condition is explained on 
page 83. Soil moist enough to be 
plastic is too wet to blast if the tillage 
f.n \ur Is iiniKjir mr. \ c I n smiI tiiusr he 







^mm 


mr) 


^a^^^^^^m 


HW' Ifcl 


n^^ 


1 


■^^^r^^ 


■fe 


K- 


'* 


» 


P^" 


tWf^- 


I 


^*w 


pi 




>1 


? 


m^firr' 


% 




'k^m 


m-''-'. 


■ "'-i 



This stump had been obstructing the plow for fifty years, but was taken out in half an hour. 

7/ 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



very dry before It fails to stick together. 
Sand, however, may not stick even 
when watersoaked. Damp loam soils 
may or may not be worked, depend- 
ing on how much humus or organic 
matter they contain. 

In heavy soils, therefore, it is well 
to avoid blasting out stumps till the 
ground gets dry. In sandy soils, usually, 
the work may be done without injury 
even when water rises in the bar holes. 



There are many other considerations 
which enter into the matter — for in- 
stance, it may be necessary to go ahead 
with new ground clearing without much 
regard to the soil conditions, trusting 
to later cultivation to counteract any 
compacting that may be caused in 
heavy ground by blasting it when wet. 
Blasting or any other handling of the soil 
when it is wet should be avoided just as 
plowing is avoided then. 




How to place charges under lateral rooted stump. "A" shows how to place charge when 
the cap and fuse are used and one charge is relied upon to remove the stump. "B" shows how 
to place three small charges under main roots when stump is to be removed with several charges 
fired by electric blasting machine. Use either method "A" or "B" — never both. 



Nature of Stumps, The three main types of root growth — 
tap root, semi-tap root, and lateral root — are shown plainly in the 
cuts on this and the next page. If the man who does the blasting 
has a mental picture of these general classes of root growth, he 
will know what to probe for and to expect when he investigates a 
stump. Hemlock and sassafras are examples of the laterals, white 
pine and most oaks are of the semi-tap root type, and southern 
pine and hickory of the tap root. 

A particular variety of tree seldom 
grows true to one type of root in all 
soils and locations, however, hence the 
judgment of the blaster and what his 
probing rod tells are doubly impor- 
tant. Hemlock, for instance, when it 
grows in the wet places it prefers, sel- 
dom sends roots down more than a foot 
or two. But hemlock trees that grow 
on hills, particularly in loose soil or 
among stones, will develop roots which 
very much resemble those of a normal 
white pine. The true tap root trees, 
which in soft, loose soil send down main 
roots almost as big as the trunk several 
feet, in harsher or poorer soil often de- 
velop roots split up and running out 
sideways like white pine trees do In open 
soil. It is well for every blaster to un- 
derstand the kind of roots his stumps are 
likely to have, taking Into considera- 
tion the variety of the tree and the 
nature of the soil. Hard ground and 
high level of standing water force more 
shallow root growth; open ground and 
dry ground permits deeper penetration. 

42 




How to place charges for blasting out tap- 
rooted stump. Three methods are shown. 
"A" shows how to do it with one charge. 
"B" shows how to place two charges when 
electric blasting machine is available. "C" 
shows by dotted lines position of auger hole 
in wood where one charge could be placed to 
cut off the root and throw out the stump. 



Better Stump Removing 



The length of the roots is an im- 
portant factor, but should be consid- 
ered in connection with the age of the 
stump since the tree was cut, and on the 
Habihty of that kind of wood to rot. A 
white pine stump, for instance, grows 
roots which even 10 or 15 feet away 
may measure several inches in diameter 
— which at least are big enough to inter- 
fere with cultivation, if close to the 
surface, or that give much resistance to 
the blast if deeper. These pine roots 



do not decay in an ordinary generation- 
As an instance of another type, a walnut 
tree and an oak (except white oak) have 
roots which become small rapidly as 
they leave the tree, and which decay in 
a few years, particularly where less 
than 3 inches in diameter. A stump of 
this sort, therefore, is easier to remove 
even while green, because its anchor 
roots rot off and leave nothing but a 
bulk of trunk wood on which few short 
root stubs remain. 



Locating Charges of Powder. Reviewing briefly the fore- 
going considerations of ground and stump, the charges must be 
placed deep in light, porous or open ground, and may be placed 
nearer the surface in heavier ground. 

The amount of water in the soil has 
considerable to do with the depth neces- 
sary to give proper confinement to the 
gases. In soil that is dry the charges 
should be placed at least a foot deeper 
than in the same soil when water-soaked. 
For some varieties of small stumps in 
clay, charges sometimes may be loaded 
only a foot or so under the surface; for 
the same kinds and sizes of stumps in 
sand the charges should be placed at 
least 2 to 2? feet deep. Ordinarily it is 
best to make the holes for average sized 
stumps between 3 and 4 feet deep. If all 
roots above such depth are removed, any 
left will not interfere with cultivation. 

One rule much used among profes- 
sional land clearers is to place the 
charges as many inches down from the 
normal surface of the ground as the 
stump is inches in diameter at the sur- 
face. For instance, if the stump is 2 
feet thick, place the charge 2 feet deep. 




How cartridges of powder swell and fill 
the hole when they are split and pressed with 
tamping stick. See illustration page 51. 




How to place the charges under semi-tap-rooted stumps. "A" shows proper position where 
one charge and cap and fuse are used. "B" shows proper positions of several small charges 
when electric blastmg machine is used. Use one or the other method illustrated — never both . 

43 



Better P'arming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Variations in soil of course must 
modify this rule. 

Charges placed too near the surface 
tend to blow off or to split the tops of the 
stumps without pulling cut or even 
loosening the roots. On the other hand, 
those placed too deep exhaust their 



is relied upon ought not to be located 
as deep as the heavy charges used when 
the firing is done with blasting caps 
and fuse. The charge cannot lift an 
equal weight of earth, nor is there any 
need for trying to make it do so, as 
the charge can be placed close under 




Two close stumps were taken out together. Note the depth of charge hole to get below roots. 

Before — 



energy and force uselessly in lifting large 
masses of earth, and likewise do not 
loosen the roots, or loosen them enough 
to permit of their easy removal. 

The method of firing and the spread 
of roots has much to do with the depth 
of loading. The light charges gene- 
rally used when the electric method 



the roots it is intended to throw out. 
It is said that a well-balanced blast 
will normally blow out a crater as 
wide at the top as it is deep. This 
is not always true, but the idea serves 
as an illustration of the need for plac- 
ing single charges that are intended to 
take out whole stumps, deep enough 




-and after. (Picture taken from opposite side to show roots where they fell.) 



44 



Better Stump Removing 



so that the blast will reach sideways to 
the main roots. If placed nearer the 
surface, the pull of the body of the 
stump on the roots is the only force 
exerted on them, and they usually split 
off before they come loose from the 
ground. 

The number of charges or holes 
which any certain stump demands when 




Before blasting — 

electric firing is used depends on the 
number of main or anchor roots. Some 
blasters arbitrarily limit the number to 
2, 3, 4, and 5 for certain sizes of stumps, 



with roots equally solid all round, this 
means under the center of the stump. 
On sloping ground it means slightly up- 
hill. Seldom, I owever, are roots equally 
strong on all sides. If one charge only 
is to be used, place it nearest the firmest 
anchorage; if more than one charge, 
locate under roots. 

Tap root stumps to be taken out with 
one charge should have that one loaded 
3 to 4 feet down against the main root 
or in the root itself. To secure the hitter 
loading; which is very effective, dig the 
dirt away from one side to a point 2 feet 
below the surface of the ground. Then 
bore a hole in the wood with a long- 
shanked wood auger. The hole should 
be bored about two-thirds of the way 
through the tap root — never entiiely 
through. Two charges used and fired 
together is another effective way of 
loading true tap root stumps. They 
may be loaded on opposite sides and at 
a foot or two less depth than the single 
charge — just deep enough so the pieces 
of roots left in the ground will be below 
the level of cultivation tools. 

Wide-spreading roots of all kinds 
offer more complicated problems. Big 




and after. Big stumps, even though not very tight in the ground, should be split with light 
charges before attempt is made to handle them. Picture taken from different angle to include 
roots as they fell after shooting. 



but this is not an intelligent rule. To 
place a charge wherever one is needed 
is a better plan. The cost of electric 
fuzes is an item to consider in this con- 
nection. 

Lateral location of charges can be 
summed up in a few words: Place the 
powder as near as possible under the 
center of resistance. On level ground. 



stumps of this type are hard to take out 
with single blasts fired with cap and 
fuse. The electric method of firing all 
the charges simultaneously does away 
with considerable trouble and expense. 
Time is a very expensive item at 
present. The use of a blasting ma- 
chine places you where you know just 
when the blast will occur. You can 

45 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



fire numerous charges together, the men 
having to leave for safety only once, 
and if the work is near a public road 
traffic will not be interfered with to 
any extent. 

The average blaster pays entirely too 
little attention to the apparently unim- 
portant points of difference in soil and 
in roots. He fails to realize and to act 
on the knowledge that for some stumps 
charges should be placed twice as deep 
as for other stumps that look the same 
on the surface. The placing of charges 
out well from the trunk, under the roots, 
or close under the center of the stump, 
is another matter too often left to 



chance. It should be gauged strictly 
by the conditions found through exami- 
nation, A free use of all the variations 
in loading to suit each particular stump 
will cut down the cost and labor, and 
make for better results than are pos- 
sible from any set method of loading. 
The danger is that a blaster who suc- 
ceeds in getting out one stump well, 
will use the same manner of loading for 
others, relying on that experience 
rather than on judgment based on ob- 
servation. 

No other element goes so far toward 
economical land clearing as good judg- 
ment in locating charges. 



Making Holes in the Ground, Wherever the ground is 
soft, the bar and sledge will make holes easier than anything else. 
They also are necessary in dry ground that contains many stones. 
In dry ground of a heavy nature that is free from stones, however, 
the soil auger often can be used to advantage, as in such work the 
bar goes down very slowly. 



Frequently the holes can be started 
to a depth of two or more feet with the 
bar and then finished with the auger. 
The bar should be on hand at every job 
to break through stones. In sandy soils 
of the South, bars can be used to make 
holes straight down along the tap roots 
of pine stumps. A wood auger with 



H 


HqI 


HHp^P 


^^^m& 




^m^M 


^m^ 





Before blasting. Connecting the wires of 
several charges under one stump, 

a long shank is necessary when blasting 
tap root stumps by placing the charges 
in the roots. This method is economical 
in blasting out Southern pine stumps, 
and is much used throughout the turpen- 
tine industry. In dry ground the making 
of holes can be hastened by pouring in 
along the bar or auger from time to time 
a little water. In case roots are struck 
in the path decided upon, and they can- 
not be broken through with the bar, 
the wood auger again becomes useful. 

46 



To make the cavity at the bottom of 
the hole large enough to hold the re- 
quired amount of powder is an easy 
matter when the charges are to be 
fired electrically, since two or three 
sticks at the most constitute a charge. 
When cap and fuse are used, however, 
the amount of powder needed often is 
seven or eight sticks or even more, and 
so many strung along end to end make 
too long a charge. The .hole must be 




And after. Showing the wide spread of 
roots heaved out by a multiple charge blast, 
fired electrically. 

enlarged to permit the compression of 
the powder into a round bulk. 

In the Northwest, where stumps 
often are several feet in diameter, blast- 
ers sometimes use a narrow-bladed,long- 
handled shovel, and tunnel under the 
stumps in order to get a cavity large 
enough. This plan is objectionable, 
however, on account of the difficulty 
of getting the tamping in tight, as well 



Better Stump Removing 



as on account of the time required to 
do the work. A better plan usually is 
to scrape out the bottom of a bored or 
punched hole with the little scraper de- 
scribed on page 39, or even to "spring" 
the bottom with a small charge of 
powder, fired without tamping. "Spring- 
ing" is effective in enlarging the hole — 



but often forms cracks which in- 
terfere with the confinement of the 
main charge. The method therefore 
is to be considered in emergencies 
only. When "springing" is done, no 
powder must be loaded into the hole 
until the ground cools. This is very im- 
portant. 





\ jhI 


'* "'mtlM^':^ 


i {^nk 


^^^^^^^^^pv -^-i^* m 


1^^^,. ^%. ^' ^wl 


^^K^I^SHni 


Hp ^IHII 


^^^r 


^K -.ij^j^m 


:: -y.^ '-^ 


H^BliHK^ '^M^^^^B 




:\ ^^piiiiii 



Good blasting — pieces all out, and not too big to handle. 

The Kind and Amount of Powder. Atlas Farm Powder, 
as explained on pages 5 and 6, is particularly designed for blasting 
in average soil. Time has fully established everywhere over the 
country our original claim that it would take the roots of stumps 
out cleaner, pull them from deeper in the ground, and make smaller 
holes than the ordinary dynamite so much used for the purpose. 
If the work is done with any higher percentage explosive it will 
not be done so well, or for so little money. 



The only conditions under which 
Atlas Farm Powder is not the most ef- 
fective explosive are those of loose, 
porous soils such as sand, with practi- 
cally no water in them. For blasting 
stumps from such ground, use Atlas 
Extra Powder of 50 per cent, strength, 
or Atlas Straight Powder, 50 per cent. 
These powders are not as economical as 
Atlas Farm Powder, and tend to break 
and tear the roots off close to the level of 
the charge rather than to pull them out. 
But their action is so violent and quick 
that they do their work before the yield- 
ing sand can give way. 

The amount of powder required per 
stump cannot be stated in any set way. 
Each stump, with its particular root 
system and ics own kind and conditions 
of soil, is a problem in itself. Experience 
is the best teacher, and the blaster who 



takes careful note of what happens when 
he shoots a stump will know best how to 
load the next one. Keep a note-book 
record as work proceeds. 

It is well to know in advance what 
to expect of the blasting, in order that 
good results will be secured. A proper 
stump blast will not have a loud re- 
port. If it does there is a waste of ex- 
plosive or poor loading in some way. 
The dead, muffled report is the efl^ect to 
work for. The blast should lift all or 
nearly all of the roots out, but should 
not throw them far, and should not 
throw much dirt or make big holes. Big 
holes and high-flying roots and dirt are 
signs of too much powder, or perhaps too 
shallow loading if the blast leaves some 
roots tight in the ground. The amount 
of powder must be balanced against the 
weight and resistance of the stump 

47 



Better F'arming with Atlas Farm Powder 



and the ground anchoring- ii. Carefully 
balanced charges will make wonderfully 
clean jobs while laying the broken pieces 
of the stump close beside the blast or 
only a few feet away. 




Slitting the paper wrapping of stick to secure 
compact charge for dry hole. 

Some authorities say that a pound 
of explosive should be used for each foot 
of diameter of stump. For those up to 
30 or 40 inches in diameter this rule 
will work. For larger stumps 1| to 2 
pounds are required for each foot of 
diameter. A rule for the enormous 
stumps of the Northwest is to square 
the diameter of the stump in feet and to 
use this figure fur the number of pounds 
of powder. 



Finally, we give a table below which 
shows the charges that gave perfect 
results in actual field work. These 
figures are taken from records made 
by the Kentucky Experiment Station 
and by our own men. In using them as 
a guide, it must be remembered that 
identically the same results can be se- 
cured only under the identical condi- 
tions of stump and soil. 

Amount of Poivder used for Blasting 
Stumps 

Diam. Sticks 
Kind of Stump Inches Used 

Dead Oak 12 2 

16 U 

15 li 

Dead Pine 16 H 

Dead Oak 8 \h 

30 41 

18 3 

12 li 

20 3^ 

" 34 41 

Dead Pine. .. .'.'...'' 14 2^ 

Green Oak 16 3 

Dead Oak 24 3 

38 5i 

27 4i 

30 6 

Dead Snag 20 4^ 

Dead Oak 27 5 

Green Black Gum. .. . 16 5^ 

Dead Gum 24 4 

Green Sugar Maple. . . 16 5| 

"... 40 20 

Dead Oak 26 2 

Green Gum 15 3^ 

Dead Walnut 10 1 

Dead Hemlock 15 2 

Dead Pine 40 7 

24 5 

20 4 

60 12 



Loading Charges of Powder Under Stumps, It is 

well to delay the preparing of primers (putting cap and fuse to- 
gether and inserting cap or electric fuze in stick of powder), till 
after the holes are ready to receive the charges. In big stump blast- 
ing operations, as in sections where cut-over and logged-ofF land is 
cleared, and in the turpentine sections of the South, the hole-mak- 
ing crews and the loading crews work independently, the former 
often days ahead of the latter. In ordinary farm stump blastings 
the priming may well be done in the field just before the load- 
ing. Another good plan is to prime enough sticks at the beginning 
of each day or half day for that time, and to carry them along in a 
basket or box separate from other explosives. 

Run the tamping rod down each dirt and projecting roots, and meas- 
hole to see that it is clear of stones, fallen ure it for comparison with the charge. 

48 



Better Stump Removing 



Estimate the amount of powder required 
as explained on page 47. If the amount 
is more than a couple of sticks, the 
charge likely will be too long when the 
sticks are placed end to end in the 
hole — that is, the powder will not be 
directly under the spot it ought to be. 
The remedy is to make sure the hole is 
enlarged at that point (which should be 
directly under the main resistance of 
the stump or root, as the case may be) 
and to compress the sticks endways till 
they swell and fill the space. To make 
them do this, slit the paper wrappings 
of the sticks with a sharp knife. There 
is no danger in this operation. When 
water rises in the hole, however, the 
wrappings of the sticks should not be 
broken, as a rule. 

It is presumed that the blaster has 
prepared his charge by this time (primed 
it) according to the directions on pages 
8-13. He should have, therefore, if he 
expects to do the firing with blasting 
caps, a stick of powder to which is tied a 
piece of fuse cut 3 or 4 feet long and 
crimped fast to a blasting cap inserted 
in the powder. If the firing is to be done 
electrically, the stick of powder will be 
primed with an electric fuze. 



bulk, the first stick should be placed 
in the hole and pushed home with the 
tamping rod. There is no danger in 
pushing on the powder. Press it gently 
but firmly to the bottom. 

Each of the remaining unprimed 




A ten minute job removed this root, 
which broke a binder platform and caused 
a loss of $25. 

sticks of the charge should be pushed 
home and compacted separately, and 
the stick containing the primer should 
be put in last. It should not have the 
wrappings slit, or at least not over the 
upper half containing the cap. Be care- 
ful to see that no dirt or stones get be- 




Green stumps come out better when several charges, fired all together electrically, are used 
under each one. See photo, on following page. 



When the hole is known by test to be 
large enough to hold the powder at the 
right place in a more or less compact 



tween the sticks of powder in the hole, 
and that they all are forced into firm 
contact with one another. Obstructions 

49 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



or air spaces may prevent part of the 
charge from exploding. 

When all the powder is in place, 
tamping should begin. The material 
should be damp, and the more like pure 
clay it is, the better. Have a shovel to 
dig and to carry tamping material if 
necessary. Lack of a shovel may tempt 
a blaster to use poor tamping material. 
It must be packed solid. Begin by roll- 
ing in a handful of damp ground and 
shoving it down as the sticks of powder 
were shoved. Press it, but do not ham- 
mer or pound it. After there is a few 
inches over the end ot the charge, how- 
ever, you can tamp it as solidly as you 
like. Be careful that the fuse or wires 
are not broken or sharply bent. Hold 
them to one side with one hand while 
the other hand works the tamping rod. 
Fill the hole. 

In case there is a depression at the 
hole, particularly if it is on the down- 
hill side of the stump, a small pile of 
dirt should be placed over the spot. It 
is well to investigate any hollows be- 



with an oil, gasoline or other torch, or 
with a red-hot iron. The latter is good 
when many fuses must be lit in quick 
succession, though no better than a blow 
torch using gasoline for fuel, such as 
machinists, painters, and plumbers have 




Stick the burning head of a match against the 
powder to light fuse surely. 

for soldering. In the hands of a man who 
knows how, however, matches are about 
as fast and are more convenient and less 
troublesome. The way to use them is to 
split the end of the fuse back far enough 



<>'*=-'o^. 






The green stump shown on preceding page — blown out complete. Note how all roots came free 

from the dirt. 



tween roots, and to lill them with dirt 
solidly if they need it. Groundhog, 
skunk and even squirrel and gopher 
holes permit the escape of the gases and 
interfere seriously with the effectiveness 
of the blast. They should be filled and 
tamped. Avoid placing any stones in 
the tamping or over the top. They are 
likely to fly like bullets. 

Fuse may be lighted with matches, 

SO 



to expose some fresh powder, or to slice 
off a chip from the outside of a bend. 
Then scratch a match and stick the 
burning head instantly — before it flares 
— against the powder. The whole thing 
takes only a second, and no amount of 
wind will prevent the success of the 
operation when it is done quickly. 

Electric firing is explained at length 
on pages 13 to 16. 



Better Stump Removing 



Test Loading. The suggestions and 
directions for placing charges and for 
determining the amount of powder re- 
quired for any particular stump, as 
given on preceding pages, must not be 
regarded as hard and fast rules. The 



observe and experiment more widely 
than he usually does. 

The Location of holes, number of 
holes, amount of powder to use, all can 
be learned by test. A few shots will tell 
the story under any conditions. If the 




Complete removal, but big chunks and a big hole. Atlas Farm Powder would have broken up 
the stump better and thrown out less dirt. 



main reliance at all times must be placed 
on experience and observation of re- 
sults. The beginner should blast one 
stump at a time, note the effect he se- 
cures with the loading used, and vary 
it as seems to be required. The old 
hand at the work, who is prone to fol- 
low his own special ruts to his own loss 
in time and ease, and to the loss of 
money in excess powder used, should 



first few shots are made one at a time 
and each next one loaded a little differ- 
ently, the result is bound to be better 
than without the test blasts. 

Fuse. Be careful to prime charges 
according to directions. Powder is eas- 
ily set on fire, and may burn without 
exploding, or may explode with little 
force if set on fire before the blasting cap 
goes off. Then you not only lose time 







j-*^-? 



Partial blasting with light charges, roots to be pulled by horses. 



SI 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



and money, but expose yourself to the 
poisonous gases from burning explosive. 
Be careful in loading the primer not to 
kink the fuse. 

Keep the ends of fuse dry. Fuse 
takes up moisture and water like a blot- 
ter. A few minutes only are required to 
dampen many inches, and to cause a 
misfire. 

Deep Loading. The average man 
is inclined to load charges too near the 
surface. It takes work to put holes 
down more than 3 feet. In some places 
even 2 feet seems pretty far down to the 
man at the upper end of the bar or 
auger. When in doubt, go down. More 



under the center of the stump or root. 
To load between the stump and the 
hill, or under the upper side of a stump, 
often is good practice. 

Loose Gravel and Sand. To load 
charges in loose ground that caves into 
the bar or auger holes, making it hard to 
get the powder to the bottom, provide 
one oi the Atlas tube-bars, described on 
page 24. This consists of a pipe, with 
a bar inside that are driven into the 
ground together. Then the bar is with- 
drawn and the powder loaded through 
the tube. 

Hollow Stumps. Whenever stumps 
aie completely hollow or have centers 




To show sticks of explosives expanded, as permitted by splitting of stick wrappings, in big hole. 



powder is required to blow out roots 
with deep loading (whether it is neces- 
sary or not), which means that charges 
too deeply placed are wasteful. But 
they are not so wasteful as the shallow 
charge that fails to dislodge the roots, 
and which must be followed by second 
or third blasts, or, worse yet, by ex- 
pensive digging or pulling. 

Hillside Blasting. The placing of 
charges under the point of greatest 
weight and resistance is a primary 
principle of blasting. To carry it out, 
whenever there is a bank of earth that 
is higher on one side of a stump or root 
than on the other, the charge must be 
located toward that side rather than 

S2 



filled with soft, decayed wood, they are 
hard to blast out with fuse. Matters can 
be helped somewhat by filling the hol- 
low part with earth well tamped. The 
best method is to use an electric blast- 
ing machine for firing and to load 
several small charges out under the 
roots. 

Number of Holes Under a Stump. 
The Idaho Experiment Station, dealing 
with the large stumps found on its 
logged-off land, says that "One hole was 
found sufficient for removing stumps up 
to 18 inches in diameter, while two 
holes were sufficient for removing 
stumps up to 30 inches in diameter, and 
three holes for 40-inch stumps. Four 



Better Stump Removing 



holes were generally found ample for 
removing larger stumps, though for 
the largest, five holes were sometimes 
found necessary." 

This experience is with electric fir- 
ing. Our own tests have forced the con- 
clusion that two or more charges should 
be placed under 18-inch stumps, unless 




A pine root that didn't seem to be very big. 
Before blasting. 

they are of hardwood well decayed. A 
pine stump, for instance, will come free 
from the ground with as many charges 
as there are main anchor roots much 
easier than with fewer charges. That is 
our rule, therefore — put a hole under 
each main root. To state the matter 
another way, hitch the blast short to 



ing is of more importance than deter- 
mining upon the position, number and 
depth of holes to be made under large 
stumps. The exercise of judgment on 
these points will do more than anything 
else to reduce the amount of powder 
used and to secure the highest possible 
efficiency." 

Tamping. Damp clay makes the 
best tamping material not only because 
it is of a heavy nature, but because it 
contains moisture. 

The stump blaster can assist matters 
when the ground is dry, and when it is 
light, like sand, by supplying the missing 
factor — the moisture. A bucket of 
water in the hole with the tamping helps 
greatly to make a blast successful. So 
great is the effect of wetting the ground 
that the supplying of water makes all 
the difference between failure and ef- 
fective results when stumps like live 
oak must be removed from dry sand. 

Beginners. It is not well to begin 
operations on the largest or toughest 
stumps. Skilled blasters almost always 
shoot out some of the easy ones to be- 
gin with, in order to see the exact effect 
in the ground at the particular place. 
Beginners should take the smallest and 
oldest stumps first. 

Making Holes. The tendency is 
to start holes too close to the bodies of 




After the old piece was blown out, the original root system was found undecayed 



the load. The loading takes less time, 
the stump is fully cleaned out and 
well broken, while the hole- lejt in the 
ground is small. 

The Idaho Station says further: 
"One should have a good knowledge of 
the root system before undertaking this 
part of the work (locating holes). Noth- 



stumps. The slant takes the bottoms of 
the holes under the trunk, and in some 
cases holes from opposite sides will al- 
most meet. If the holes are started well 
out from the trunk better distribution of 
the charges will be secured. 

Boring Machines. Hand boring of 
holes is almost as cheap as power boring. 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



except on large jobs, but it is much 
slower .md requires many more hours of 
labor to accomplish the same result. 
Boring machines therefore are econom- 
ical and desirable wherever the job 
comprises many acres or the number of 
stumps runs into the thousands. 

Probably the most satisfactory ma- 
chines are electric ones, consisting of 6 
to 10 horse gasoline engine, electric 
generator and drill or motor heads, to 
which the augers are attached. Two 
drill heads usually are used to each ma- 



Southern Pine Stump Blasting. A 

typical stump blasting operation in 
Georgia works as follows, where the 
roots are used for distillation (pine). 

The workmen are divided into crews 
— one for boring, one for blasting and 
others for gathering the roots, hauling 
and loading on cars. The blasting crew 
consists of a foreman-engineer, four 
men handling two augers (electric), and 
one man to handle the cables. This 





What a big stump blast looks like from the 
end of a 250-foot leading wire. 

chine. We recommend this type of bor- 
ing machine. 

Other types, however, are in use and 
give satisfaction. Among them are the 
compressed air machine, the steam ma- 
chine and the direct geared machine. 

We shall be glad to advise anyone in- 
terested in the possible use and purchase 
of one of these machines of any type. 



Too much dirt and smoke in the air — a waste 
of explosive. 

crew is able to bore 500 to 700 holes a 
day (into the wood). 

They should load and blast 200 
to 250 stumps a day. The powder is 
distributed to convenient points over 
the job in a cart, the proper number of 
sticks being primed at the camp be- 
forehand. Sticks of powder are almost 
always slit to make them fill the holes. 
The aim is to remove the stump from 
the ground completely, and to bring 
along the "fat" lateral roots, and it is 
important that they be broken just right 
for handling. 




Two gum trees, the larger four feet in diameter, blown out with Atlas Powder. Both after- 
wards were split up with the powder. Ground left clear of roots, and the roots clean. 

54 



Better Stump Removing 



Varieties of Stumps. Difference in rate of decay and in 
root development make necessary corresponding differences in 
loading. Some of the typical varieties encountered, with sugges- 
tions for blasting each, are as follows: 



White Pine is a true semi-tap root 
tree in most soils. Tlie roots not only 
go down, but spread widely in all direc- 
tions near the surface. Place one charge 
directly under the center of the stump 
on level land, and others 2 to 5 feet out 
under the anchor roots. It is no use to 
try to blast out big white pine stumps 
with single charges, even when fuse 
firing only is available. 




Before blasting. A stump that was 
loaded with a single charge, placed too shal- 
low at that. 

Oaks have the same general type of 
root development as white pine. The 
roots, however, are slimmer and hardly 
so long. To take out green stumps a 
heavy charge should be placed under 
the center and lighter charges out under 
the main roots. The most important 
fact about most oak stumps, however, is 
that the roots rot in a few seasons. 
After 5 to 10 years about all there is left 
of an oak stump is a bulk of trunk wood 
with short stubs. In this condition they 
can be blasted out and broken up with 
single charges very satisfactorily. White 
oak decays slowly. Oaks have a tend- 
ency to sprout. 

Chestnut is another semi-tap root 
variety with much the same character- 
istics as oaks, except that the roots de- 
cay more slowly, and sprouting is more 
marked. When chestnut stumps are 
left alone the centers rot out of the 
trunks, but the sprouts keep the roots 
alive, and the net fesult is that the 



whole thing is harder to remove after 
ten years than within a year after the 
original tree is cut. In some places oaks 
present the same condition. Maple is a 
great sprouter. These woods, however, 
are soft and more easily broken, hence 
come out with lighter charges as a usual 
thing. When the stumps are small the 
blasting may be very light, and any 
roots left sticking in the ground will be 
torn out or cut off by the plow. 

Clumps of Brush, often removed by 
grubbing alone, will come out with far 
less work and with less expense if they 
are blasted lightly. Wages are too high 
now to permit the use of men when their 
time can be saved by the use of powder. 

Locust, Sassafras and other strictly 
lateral root stumps should be blasted 
by locating charges 2 to 3 feet under the 
surface of the ground. Most of the roots 
are in the top foot or so, but the deeper 
loading will cause wider breaking, and 
likely will result in the removal of all 
roots large enough to interfere seriously 
with cultivation. 

Tap-root Stumps such as Southern 
pine have been discussed on page 41. 
Hickory usually develops tap-roots and 
should be blasted the same way, which 
consists in loading proper powder 




After the blast. Center of stump was blown 
out and roots left in the ground. 

charges 3 to 4 feet underground against 
the roots, or at somewhat less depth 
in the roots. Taking into considera- 
tion the time and labor required, farmers 
usually will find that to put the charges 
in the ground against the roots is the 
most satisfactory plan. 



Standing Trees, Green or dead trees may be blasted out, 
roots and all, without first cutting them down. The tojjs, in fall- 
ing, help to pull the roots out and help to make a cleaner job of the 
removal of the stump than otherwise might be made. After the 

SS 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



tree is down it can be sawed, chopped or blasted into pieces for 
removal or burning in less time than it could be cut down and 
afterward the trunk and stump handled separately. 



As a rule, slightly heavier charges 
are needed tor trees than for stumps oi 
the same diameter. This is owing partly 
to the weight of the tree and partly to 
the fact that the tree usually has a 
stronger root system. Loading, how- 
ever, should be done as directed on pages 
43 and 47. Electric firing is better than 
fuse and cap firing, because trees nearly 



always require a distribution of the force. 
In case the firing must be done with fuse 
and caps under large trees, it is well to 
load and fire one or two relatively small 
charges under one side of the root sys- 
tem, to break off the roots and to loosen 
the ground, and then to throw the tree 
over with a heavier charge fired after- 
ward under the other side. 



Removing Green Stumps or Waiting, Green stumps 
without question are harder to remove than they will be five to ten 
or more years later. Everyone who has fertile cut-over land faces 
the problem of whether it will pay best to proceed with the clear- 
ing at once or allow the stumps to decay somewhat first. 



As a general rule it does not pay to 
wait more than a few months, nor even 
that short period when there is a good 
market waiting for new ground crops. 
The loss of time itself is a serious factor. 
Farmers and land owners will find them- 
selves growing older at a rate which ex- 



ceeds the rate of decay of the stumps. 
Then there is the loss of money that may 
be made from the crops grown on the 
new, rich ground. If money is not avail- 
able, usually it should be borrowed, and 
the land worked to pay it back. There 
is profit in such a transaction. 



Combination of Blasting and Other Methods, 

The amount of powder required may be cut down greatly by only 
splitting the trunks of the stumps and somewhat loosening the 
roots, instead of blasting them entirely out. When this is done 




Result of a good stump blast. Note how the dirt is cleaned off the roots, and how they are split 
up small enough for easy handling and burning. 

the pieces will have to be pulled out with a heavy team, stump 
puller, or burned out. 

If the split stumps are burned without pulling, the roots can 

be made to burn deep into the ground, provided they are dry, by 

making use of the charpit system. To accomplish this, watch the 

fire in order to note when the top is consumed. Before the coals 

S6 



Better Stump Removing 



lose their intense heat, heap them over the root ends, and over 
that place 4 to 6 inches of clay. The covering should be almost. 



though not quite, air-tight. 

Light blasting to split stumps, fol- 
lowed by pulling of the pieces with a 
team or a stump puller, is justified when 
money is scarce and labor is plentiful 
at low cost. This practice is not best 
when labor is scarce or high priced, nor 
when the job must be completed in a 
short time. In fact, the comparison of 
the pulling and blasting combination 
with complete blasting serves to es- 
tablish one of the main advantages of 
blasting, which is to get the job done 

Large Green Semi-tap Root stumps 
perhaps can be handled by a combina- 

When Blasting is of Advantage, It is by no means 
claimed that blasting is the only good way of removing stumps, 
or that it is the "best" method under all circumstances. There 
are times and places when other methods are better suited, just as 
there are times and places when blasting is the only method that 
a sensible man would use. To make the matter clear, a brief con- 
sideration of the advantages of blasting is necessary. 

The one great outstanding advan- speedily, cheaply and easily. If the 
tage under present conditions is that roots are to be used for kindling or other 
one or two men can accomplish by blast- fuel they are ready for hauling; if for 
ing in a few days what would require a distillation, no chopping or sawing is 
crew of men weeks to do by other meth- required; if they are to be burned on 



tion of methods to greater advantage 
than any other class of stump. They 
are too large to be pulled whole with any 
satisfaction, but the pieces can be 
pulled out one by one easily. If it is 
not desirable for any reason to blast 
them out completely, either with one 
shot or several, the combination should 
be the next thing considered. In the 
Northwest this light blasting is called 
cracking. It is a serviceable method of 
clearing newly cut-over oak lands of 
the East and North, where the stumps 
are a foot in diameter, or a little larger. 



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The sort of wreckage perfect stump blasting should give. The pieces are shattered so they 
are easy to handle and so they burn well. 



ods. Men are scarce and wages are high, 
while powder can be bought and used 
by almost anyone. 

The second point in importance is 
that blasting breaks and splits the 
stumps into pieces that can be handled 



the ground they can be gathered up by 
hand and hauled on sleds to small piles, 
instead of requiring heavy machinery 
for piling. When stumps are not 
broken up in process of removal from 
ground, their disposal costs as much ns 

57 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 




The charges are placed ^nd the wires 
connected, the stock has be^jn chased away 
and the helpers warned bad- — now the blaster 
is ready to shove the har.dle of his machine 
down and to fire the expiOsive. 

their pulling as proved by government 
figures. When tiiey are broken, the 
disposal cost is much lower. When 
stumps are pulled whole, it is necessary 
to use a pick (o remove the mass ot dirt 
which comes with the stump. Blasting 
not only breaks up the stump but brings 
it out clean. 

The actual cost of blasting as com- 
pared with other methods may be lower 
or higher, depending on local conditions 
of f^round, stumps, labor and the like. 
In many instances it is lower. Blasting 
calls for no purchase of expensive ma- 
chinery or equipment. There is no big 
investment for tools, which is a point 
in its favor in the case of small jobs. 
What little outfit is required costs only 
a few dollars, and more than that, is 
small and light enough to be carried by 
hand from place to place if need be. 
There is no reason for maintaining 
motive power for hauling it. 

As respects the Size of the Stump 
which should be pulled and which should 
be blasted, the line should be drawn at 
the point where a stump gets too heavy 
to be lifted readily by one man after it 
is free from its anchorage. In oak clear- 
ing this will mean that stumps less than 5 
or 6 inches in diameter should be pulled, 
and those larger should be blasted. 
When a tew dozen stumps are to be re- 
moved, as from a pasture or from cul- 
tivated fields, blasting alone is the sen- 
sible method. When many acres are to 
be cleared, the small stumps may be 
pulled, and the large ones blasted out 
clean or blasted enough to split them, 



then the pieces pulled. 

The Effect of the Blasting on the Soil 

is a factor to be considered. When the 
blasting is done in d''y weather it is de- 
cidedly beneficial from a tillage stand- 
point. New r^round, while rich and 
productive, nearly always is in need of 
aeration ar,d drainage, particularly the 
latter. Hundreds of instances have 
been noced where wet spots have been 
dried oy the loosening of the under soil, 
this ioosening obtained sometimes when 
blasting out stumps. The size of the 
'iioles made has little to do with this, 
but the shallow holes give the greatest 
benefit to soil drainage. The amount 
of filling that is necessary is little if 
any greater with proper blasting than 
with other forms of stump removal. 

The Nature and Condition of the 
land enters into the matter to the extent 
that blasting is more effective in heavy 
ground, and is decidedly the most con- 
venient method, if not the only one 
practicable, where the ground is 
swampy. Nearly all other methods 
are at their best in light, dry ground 
that does not anchor roots so strongly, 
and where the footing for men, horses 
and machinery is solid. Blasting is 
just as effective on hillsides, no matter 
how steep, as on level land, while many 
other methods will not do satisfactory 
work on very much of a grade. 

Stump Disposal. There are few 
sections of the United St&tes east of the 
Rockies where stumps and roots now 
do not have or in the near future will 
have a fair market value. Kindling 




The i(f aal size and kind of pile for burn- 
ing stumr s and roots. These piles can be 
built by nand, in unloading the stumps from 
a low Wagon or sled. The fires can be started 
and Wore roots fed to keep them going. 



Better Stump Removing 



wood is needed by every family in Amer- 
ica. In most towns it sells at 33 to $20 
a cord. A farmer should be justified in 
storing five to ten years' supply when 
he has the wood ready cut and must 
handle it anyhow to get rid of it. 

The use of stumps and roots for 
distillation purposes unfortunately is 
restricted to limited sections of the 
South. Other markets of a similar 
nature are the lime kilns in limestone 
sections, and the ever-present boiler in 
factory, mill, school, office and home. 
Wood for fireplaces is a field which every 
farmer who has stumps to sell should 
investigate. There are mineral elements 
in roots which make them sparkle and 
give oflF a brilliant flame without snap- 
ping brands into the room, just as the salt 
does in driftwood — the fireplace wood so 
much prized. Town owners of fire- 
places to whom this is explained will 
buy a great many roots. 

Failing a Market, however, the 
pieces must be disposed of on the 
ground before the land can be culti- 
vated. In many sections enormous 
piles are built up by means of a derrick 
operated with engine or horses, or by 
hitching a block and rope or cable high 
on a tree or gin pole erected for the 
purpose. The derrick, of course, is re. 



moved before the pile of stumps is 
burned, but the gin pole is left to burn 
too. This method is speedy and effect- 
ive, but is expensive, as a considerable 
crew is required to operate the equip- 
ment properly. Small derricks that can 
be moved easily have considerable merit 
and are open to fewer objections. 

A Better Plan all round, when the 
stumps have been blasted properly and 
are well broken up for easy handling, is 
to hitch a team or one horse to a large 
stone boat, and to haul the roots into 
small piles made here and there where- 
ever required and wherever convenient. 
The fires can be started at once and can 
be fed with additional roots and thus 
kept going till the field is clear. This 
method is speedier than the making of 
large piles by any means. 

Misfires. Should misfires occur in 
stump blasting, after the wires are dis- 
connected in the case of electric firing, 
or after waiting several hours in the 
case of fuse and cap firing, put down 
another hole within 3 to 6 inches of the 
original one, and duplicate the charge 
and loading. Do not pull at the fuse 
or wires, and do not attempt to dig out 
the old charge. Many accidents occur 
every year through failure to observe 
fhis caution. 




Wood is a very expensive commodity in many parts of this country to-day. It never will 
get cheaper. Utilization of all parts of the trees that are cut down in land clearing is the thmg 
to do whenever it is possible. 



59 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



EVIDENCE 

"One point seems clear, and that is that when stumps are to be removed, the 
cheapest method is bv the use of dvnamite." 

KENTUCKY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, 
Bulletin 154 on "Blowing Stumps with Dynamite." 

"Powder plays an important part in the clearing of logged- off land, as a power- 
ful agent is required to dislodge large stumps. All of the devices for pulling large 
stumps are dependent on powder to split and loosen the stump before it is pulled." 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 

Bidletin 239, on "Cost and Methods of Clearing Land in Western Washington." 

"At the present time few undertake to clear even a small tract of land with- 
out the use of powder, and in the hands of an experienced man powder can be made 
to do a large amount of work at comparatively small expense." 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
Bulletin 25 on "The Cost of Clearing Logged-Off Land for Farming in the 

Pacific-Northwest." 

"The advantage of using explosives in clearing new land is that a big invest- 
ment is not necessary as in case of stump machinery. Explosives can be used in 
some way by almost every settler. The stumps and boulders are left in such form 
as to be handled and disposed of easily. The roots are freed from soil and the 
large parts broken up so they can be used for fuel, as is the practice in many sec- 
tions at present." 

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AGRICULTURAL EXP. STATION, 
Bulletin 216, on "The Use of Explosives in Clearing Land." 

"Where stumps from twelve to thirty inches across have been cut for some 
time, and the soil is not very sandy or loose, the use of dynamite alone has been 
found, in practice, to be the most satisfactory method. The advantage of dyna- 
mite is that it will not only blow stumps entirely out of the ground, but it will 
remove the dirt from the roots at the same time, and break up the stumps so that 
thev can be easily handled and burned." 
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AGRICULTURAL EXP. STATION, 

Bulletin 134 on "Land Clearing." 

"Explosives have the advantages of thoroughly breaking up the stumps, of 
not requiring a large force of inen for clearing operations or a large cash outlay at 
one time, and of enabling the work to be done quickly. Where medium-sized 
stumps have been well blasted the problem of stump disposal is relatively simple. 
Where the stumps have been pulled b\' a stump puller without the use of powder, 
the problem of disposal is more difficult. The general opinion throughout this 
region is that the cost of disposal practically equals the expense of pulling." 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,^ 
Bulletin 91 on "Costs and Methods of Clearing Land in the Lake States." 

"In the removal of large stumps dynamite is serviceable and economical. 

"There are many different makes of stump-pulling machinery upon the 
market. The promoters of these various grubbing devices claim great merits 
for their respectixe machines, but catalogue claims should be accepted with great 
caution. 

"In the neighborhood of the writer, and doubtless in many other neighbor- 
hoods, can be found such machinery in idleness because it was tested and found 
wanting. The difficulty with most stump-pulling machines is that if they are 
strong enough for the work desired of them they are too expensive, cumbersome 
and unwield>'. 

"When these machines are once properly adjusted, their work, provided noth- 
ing breaks, will be satisfactory. But the labor of moving and the care of adjust- 
ing, together with the liability of breakage, more than outweighs the virtues of 
any stump-pulling machine known to the writer." 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
Bulletin 150 f)n "Clearing New Land." 

60 



Better Stump Removing 



EVIDENCE 

"Thanks for 'Better Farming.' I just blasted out 15 big boulders. If more 
farmers would get your book there would be fewer stumps and stones in their way." 

E. E. CROSBY, R. F. D. 6, Lockport, N. Y. 

"I blasted the stumps on 160 acres with Atlas Powder. The largest stumps 
were shot hard enough to split them to pieces. Atlas Powder gave the most satis- 
factory results, and did its work at an extremelv low cost." 

FRED LAUGHLIN, Foster, Mo. 

"Within ten minutes from the time I started work on the first stump I had 
it out in pieces that I could handle easily, although I had never done any blasting 
before. It is easv to use Atlas Farm Powder." 

DEAN JOHNSON, St. Louis, Mo. 

"We had never seen stump blasting done, but the directions in your book 
made the way to do it perfectly plain. We blasted 218 stumps with Atlas Farm 
Powder and trot fine results." 

GARACOVE FARM, North East, Md. 

"Atlas Farm Powder has proven so satisfactory in clearing my land of stumps 
and boulders that I am sending you another order, and have decided to clear all 
of my land in this manner. It is a great time and labor saver." 

W. F. WINK, Allentown, Pa. 

"I have never used anything to beat Atlas Farm Powcier for removing stumps. 
I used one stick to a stump on the dead ones and two on the green ones. I would 
recommend Atlas Farm Powder to anyone who has land to clear." 

LEO G. BARNHART, Zolfo, Florida. 

"This morning I tried my hand at blasting stumps for the first time. I had 
no trouble removing the stumps with Atlas Farm Powder after seeing just how to 
do it in the book 'Better Farming.' A 12-year-old boy can remove the shattered 
stumps." ^ VICTOR M. SHAW, Cranbury, N. J. 

"I have used Atlas Farm Powder on one of my farms near Allentown and 
find it to be a great labor saver, and a quick way of removing stumps and boulders. 
The results obtained have been so satisfactory that I expect to clear all of my 
land in this manner." 

JOSEPH C. SLOUGH, Allentown, Pa. 

"It was no trouble at all to get rid of the stumps by blasting. I had never 
used an explosive before and had never seen the work done. It is easy to blast 
stumps with Atlas Farm Powder. I shall use your Powder hereafter instead of 
a stump puller." R. C. ENGLISH, Port Matilda, Pa. 

"Perhaps you would be interested in the results of my first experiences with 
the Atlas Powder for blasting stumps. It takes the pine stumps out beautifully 
and takes out the white oak stumps very well. It certainly does make the work 
of clearing land far less arduous." 

MRS. F. J. HANCHETT, Chicago, 111. 

"In laying out my golf course I had to clear 10 acres of woodland, and I used 
hundreds of pounds of Atlas Powder for clearing up trees, stumps and ditches. 
I wish to say that it saved a great deal of time and labor and fully one-third of the 
cost of clearing." 

HUGO STEARNS, Freeport, L. I. 

"I have completed taking out the stumps on my place here, using your 40% 
powder with great success. There were 980 stumps, of which 684 were green pine, 
the trees having been cut the week before blasting. The other stumps were dead 
lighter. The tap roots of the green stumps averaged 11 inches in diameter. I 
used 572 pounds of Atlas Powder and it required two men helpers for 19 days. 
I had one man one day trying to dig out the stumps but he stopped work as he 
could not make any progress and wished twenty-five cents per stump. The cost 
of removing the stumps averaged JO. 148 per stump." 

F. A. RULLMANN, Hawthorne, Florida. 

61 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



BETTER BOULDER 
REMOVING 

To break boulders, powder may be loaded in three different 
ways — for mudcap blast, for undermine blast or for blockhole 
blast. The man who is doing the work should decide first of all 
which method he will use for each boulder, bearing in mind the 
shape, position in ground, and hardness of the stones, the total 
number to be broken, the amount of help he may have, the time 
available for the work and the cost in money. Then he should 
gather the powder and supplies in boxes or baskets, as directed on 
page 9, and such tools as may be required, including rock drills 
if the blockhole method is to be used. 



For blockholing, a hole f to Ij 
inches in diameter should be drilled 
through each boulder to the center. 
The proper amount of powder 
should be loaded in the bottom (hav- 



the rock as possible. The proper amount 
of powder should be loaded in a round 
bulk, the hole tamped well, and the 
charge fired. 

For mudcapping, the proper amount 




How large boulders are broken up by properly placed charges of Atlas Powder. 



ing first prepared a primer as di- 
rected on pages 9 and 12), and the hole 
tamped well with damp clay or other 
heavy soil. Firing should be done as 
usual. Electric firing is safer than fuse 
firing, and more convenient. The extra 
expense required for electric fuzes usu- 
ally is more than offset by the saving 
in time by not having to wait for the 
blast after a fuse is lighted. 

For undermining, a hole should be 
punched or bored in the ground under 
the rock, with the bottom end as close to 



of powder should be piled on the rock 
where there is a flat side or depression 
near the center if possible. Priming 
should be done as usual. Then the pow- 
der should be covered with stiff clay or 
other very damp or wet mud to a depth 
of 6 inches at all points. Firing should 
be done as suggested above. 

Each of the methods are described in 
detail in the following pages,which should 
be read carefully before work is at- 
tempted. 



General Facts. 

methods of loading. 

It requires the least labor and usually 
the least time. It is effective on all 
rocks not extremely difficult to break by 

62 



Mudcapping is the handiest of the three 



reason of their shape, or not extremely 
hard and tough, and even such rocks can 
be mudcapped successfully when not too 



Better Boulder Removing 



large. It requires several times the 
amount of powder needed for block- 
holing. For economical mudcapping 
rocks should have one flat side at least, 
and if they are broad or long, or both, 
and thin, they break all the better by 
this method. Round boulders can be 
mudcapped, but it must be understood 
that the rounded sides act as an arch to 
resist the force of the blast, and an exces- 
sive amount of powder is required to pro- 
duce the extra force demanded, hence 
the powder cost is high. The size also is 
important, for stones up to 2 or 3 feet 
thick often break very well, but those 5 
feet thick or thicker sometimes fail to 
break even when the powder charges are 
increased out of proportion to the in- 
crease in the size. To be broken by this 
method, boulders should lie on the sur- 
face of the ground. If they are buried. 



ing is preferable to mudcapping or under- 
mining. It requires only a fraction of the 
amount of powder needed for mudcap- 
ping. Where labor is scarce, however, 
and where it is important to get the 
work completed with as little loss of time 
as possible, and particularly where the 
boulders to be broken are too few to 
warrant the purchase of any special tools 
like drills, mudcapping and undermin- 
ing should be the methods of loading 
selected. 

All three methods may be required 
in the same field, owing to the varying 
nature, shape, position, and sizes of 
boulders. For instance, small flat rocks 
on the surface ought to be mudcapped, 
even when drilling crews are working 
on others of different shape. Or, as 
another instance, if round boulders of 
very hard, tough nature and more than 3 




Boulder rolled out of ground by small charge of Atlas Farm Powder. 

capping or drilling. 



It is now ready for mud- 



they should be rolled out first with light 
blasts. 

From the above facts it will be seen 
that mudcapping is a quick and easy 
method where it is practicable. It is, 
however, somewhat more expensive than 
blockholding, where plenty of time and 
labor is available for drilling holes and 
where tools are available as well as facili- 
ties for sharpening drills. Undermine 
blasting costs a little less than mud- 
capping in powder used, but more in 
labor of making holes under the rocks. 
It requires no tools except bar and 
sledge and perhaps a soil auger and 
scraper. 

When the money cost is to be kept 
down without regard to the amount of 
hard work required, and when the num- 
ber ofboulders to be broken warrants the 
purchase of the necessary drills, blockhol- 



feet in diameter are found, it often pays 
better to buy drills and make holes in 
them in order to break them, than to use 
the excessive amounts of powder they 
would require by mudcapping. 

Between undermining and mudcap- 
ping there need be no hesitation. Mud- 
capping is desirable when rocks lie tree 
on the surface, or can be rolled out 
easily. Undermining is desirable when 
they lie somewhat buried in the ground 
in such a way that holes can be made 
under them easily to the proper point 
with bar or auger. In fact, undermining 
is just a modification of mudcapping in 
which the earth under the stone is used 
to back the charge instead of a covering 
of mud. It requires about the same 
amount of powder. The chief disadvan- 
tage of undermining is the difficulty of 
getting the powder charge at exactly the 

63 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



right spot, and of getting the powder into 
a round bulk against the stone or close 
to it. Experience shows that under- 



mining is a very effective way of load- 
ing a boulder blast, and we recommend 
it tor more general use. 




How to mudcap large stones to break them up. Put the Atlas Powder in a depression on 
a flat side of the rock and cover it with six inches of wet clay. 

Kinds of Stones, The physical characteristics of boulders 
make considerable difference in the amount of powder required, as 
noted in the preceding paragraphs. Each boulder must be con- 
sidered when loading. Size, shape and kind determines the 
location of the charge. 

First, there is Hardness. Marble, Limestone, for instance, is tough, but 

granite, porphyry, and trap boulders not particularly hard, while marble and 

are very hard, while sandstone is com- trap are both hard and tough. Shale 

posed of hard particles more or less often is tough, though usually very soft. 




Left: How to drill a hole in a large stone to break it up with Atlas Powder. Right: How 
to place charge under tight stones to blow them out and break them up. Don't permit a road 
to be blocked up with a big stone. 



loosely cemented together. Second only 
to hardness is toughness. Many 

boulders are tough which are not hard, 
and a few are both hard and tough. 

64 



Slate may be described as similar to 
shale. 

Through all stones of every kind are 
Lines of Weakness. Sometimes they 



Better Boulder Removing 



are marked enough to be seen plainly as 
seams; again they are almost invisible. 
Rocks break much easier, however, 
along these lines than through the 
flawless sections or blocks. And it is by 
taking advantage of these seams in the 
locating of the charges that good break- 
age is secured with economical powder 
charges 

The Seams of most stones run in at 
least two directions. In some rocks, 



such as slate, they may be only J inch 
apart, but usually they are 6 to 20 inches 
or even farther apart. The powder 
charge should be centered over a seam. 
To get it there the exact center of the 
boulder sometimes must be left to one 
side or another The blaster of boul- 
ders should examine each one carefully 
to find its seams before proceeding with 
any drilling or with the placing of the 
powder charges. 



Mudcapping, The tools required for mudcapping are prac- 
tically no others than those needed for preparing the charges and 
carrying the powder and supplies, as listed on page 9. A shallow 
box or a dishpan, however, often is a help, and in some cases a 
hammer and stone chisel can be used to advantage. 



Locating. The charge should be lo- 
cated on a flat face of the boulder, or a 
seam, as directed above, and as near 
the center as possible. If the stone is 
to be broken without regard to the 
size or shape of pieces, the powder 
should be piled in a low cone. Where 




Study the stone to determine the best method 
of blasting it. 

blocks of certain dimensions are wanted, 
for building or other purposes, the 
powder should be piled in lengthened 
heaps extending most of the way across 
the fftce, along the lines of breakage 
desir«l; Dimension breakage is made 
more Certain by the cutting of shallow 
channels along the lines, and piling the 
powder into and over these. 

Priming and Loading. In order to 
get the powder in a low cone, or in piles 
or ridges of other shapes, most of the 
charge should be taken out of the stick 
wrappings. Half a stick at least should 
be kept intact for priming (as directed 
on page 8), and this half stick should 
be bedded in the loose powder. If more 
than half a stick can be bedded in com- 



pletely, it is well to keep more intact. 
The edges of the pile should be thick 
and straight up. When the charge is 
packed in the shape desired, the paper 
taken from the sticks should be laid 
over it, after which the mud covering 
should be put on. 

When the primer is tied to a half 
stick of powder correctly, there will be 
little danger of the cap being pulled 
back out of the charge during the 
placing of the mudcap. Should it be 
desirable or necessary for any reason to 
insert a cap in a pile of loose powder, 
the hole should be made near the top, 
in the direction of the center of the 
stone and the fuse (or wires) should be 
tied to a knob of the stone, or otherwise 
secured so that a accidental jerk or 
pull will not displace the cap or fuze. 

The Mudcap. The mud covering 
should be at least 6 inches thick, and 




Place the mudcap charge in a depression 
rather than on rounded point. 

65 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 




The cap of mud should be 6 inches thick, 
and should extend 6 inches or more beyond 
the powder all round. 

should be of mud, not dry dirt. It 
should extend at least 6 inches over the 
rock in all directions from the edges of 
the powder, hence usually will have to be 
18 or 20 inches wide. Clay makes the 
best mudcap, though other earth will 
answer. To get it of the proper con- 
sistency, dry dirt may be mixed with 
water in a dishpan or box. The pan or 
box saves some trouble in getting the 
mud in place, as it may be inverted 
and emptied over the powder charge. 
The blaster should make sure that there 
is at least 6 inches over the powder. 



More will be even better, while less 
will cut down the effectiveness of the 
blast. Once in place, the mud should 
be packed well with a shovel. No stones 
should be permitted to get into the 
mudcap, for they will fly like bullets. 

Powder. The powder to use tor 
mudcapping is Atlas Powder 50 per 
cent. The violence of this explosive 
is suited for the purpose, and will ac- 
complish the maximum of breakage 
with the minimum of charge. Atlas 
Farm Powder may be used, but excessive 
charges are required owing to the fact 
that its force is applied more slowly 
and escapes by lifting the mudcap be- 
fore the rock breaks. When there is 
opportunity to buy powder especially 
for mudcapping, the more violent grade 
should be insisted on. 

The amount of powder per charge is 
indicated in the table following: 

Minimum Thickness 

of Stone. Sticks of Powder. 

18 inches 2 

2 feet 3 

2i feet 5 

3 feet 7 

4 feet 12 

5 feet 18 

Regarding this table, however, we 
hasten to remark that the charge in each 
case must depend on the stone. A 
boulder of trap rock, for instance, will 
require about three times the charge a 
boulder of sandstone takes. The kind ot 
breakage desired also has a bearing, 
since a lighter charge will crack it 
into three or four large pieces, while 




Sometimes the rock is well shattered but fails to fall apart. A little prying with crowbar and- 

(See next page.) 

66 ?> 



Better Boulder Removing 



a heavier one may almost pulverize 
the larger part of it. Experience will 
show more exactly than a table can 
how much powder is needed for any 
particular kind or lot of boulders. One 
or two trial shots will demonstrate the 
matter in detail. Small boulders should 
be shot first. The chartjes tor lartrer 



charge of powder (i to 2 sticks of pow- 
der), placed under it as directed tor un- 
dermine blasting, except that the charge 
should be located under one side in- 
stead of under the center. Atlas Farm 
Powder will give best results for this 
work. Another plan is to dig a trench 
about the boulder, but since this takes 




What looked like a solid stone proved to be a pile of easily handled pieces (see preceding page). 



ones will be in proportion to the squares 
of the diameters. 

Firing may be done with fuse and 
cap, or electrically. The latter method 
is more convenient and usually saler. 

To be broken properly with a mud- 
cap blast, a stone should lie free of 
binding earth. If it is buried, therefore, 
it should be rolled out with a light 



time and labor that often cannot well 
be spared from other work, the former 
plan usually is best. 

Double Mudcap Blasts, and Com- 
binations of mudcapping with other 
methods of loading, often are desirable 
where the charges are fired electrically 
and boulders are large. They are de- 
scribed on page 71. 



Undermining , This method of loading consists in locating 
charges in the ground under boulders. The tools required are the 
same as for stump blasting (described on pages 38 and 39), and 
include bar and sledge (perhaps a soil auger), tamping rod, and 
shovel and usual equipment of small tools for preparing and load- 
ing charges. 



The boulder to be broken by this 
method should have a flat face down. It 
has been explained that in reality this 
method is just modified mudcapping. 
Therefore anything said on mudcapping 
applies to undermining, and to nothing 
else does it apply more than to the care- 
ful locating of the seams in the rock. 
Charges should be placed over seams 
rather than between them. They should 



go as near under the center of the weight 
of the boulders as the above considera- 
tion will permit. 

The charge, in an ideal undermine 
blast, should be in a low cone directly 
against the stone, as in a mudcap blast. 
The difficulties of getting it so, however, 
are so great that such ideal loading sel- 
dom is accomplished. What can be done, 
however, is to see that the charge is close 

67 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



to the stone and not some distance down 
in the ground, and that the powder is 
not strung out in the hole. 

In many cases holes made with bar 
or auger should be enlarged at the bot- 
tom so the powder can be compressed 
into a more or less round bulk. This 
can be done with a scraper such as is 
shown on page 40, or in cases where 
the charge is very large, by springing the 
hole as suggested on page 47. Springing, 
however, opens cracks in the ground 
which are detrimental to the confine- 
ment oi the main powder charge, hence 
is recommended only for emergency use. 
Several sticks of powder strung out end 
to end in a long hole will not give good 
breakage unless they are under a long 
stone, and lie parallel to its length. 




Half-buried rocks often can be "blockholed" 
to good advantage. 

Unless the hole contains water at the 
time the loading is done, the paper wrap- 
pings of the sticks should be slit so that 
a little pressure from the tamping rod 
will make the powder break out and take 
the shape of the hole. It then should 
be tamped gently but firmly — pressed 
rather than pounded — and so that no air 
spaces remain. 

Priming should be done as usual (see 
page 8). The cap or electric tuze 
should be inserted in at least half a stick 
of powder and tied to it. This primed 
powder should go into the hole last — 
on top of the rest of the powder. 

Tamping should be done carefully. 
The hole should be filled to the top with 
solidly packed dirt. Dry, light earth 
or dust makes poor tamping material. 
The best is stiflF damp clay. Other soil 
may be used, however, when clay is not 
handy A shovel is not necessary when 
loose dirt for tamping can be found close 
to the holes. 

68 



The Powder to use for undermine 
blasting of boulders is the same as that 
for mudcapping — Atlas Powder 50 per 
cent. Any less violent powder will not 
give as good results. Atlas Farm 
Powder is not designed for such work as 
this. It will, however, break stones 
when so loaded, and give more satis- 
faction than when used in a mudcap 
blast owing to the firmer backing it 
has. It requires considerable more Atlas 
Farm Powder for breaking, though for 
rolling them out there is no better ex- 
plosive. Atlas 50 per cent, also will roll 
out rocks. 

The Charges required are generally 
the same as would be required for mud- 
capping, as indicated in the table and 
its following paragraph, on page 66. 
Smaller charges usually will do equally 
good work, though they cannot be very 
much smaller. 

Firing may be done as in mudcapping. 

Miscellaneous. Boulders may be 
undermined when free on the surface 
of the ground or when buried deeply. 
All that is required is a hole under them, 
with the end close under the center of 
the stone. Digging away the dirt, as 
required for mudcapping, does not help 
the blast, but rather hinders it. 




The paper wrappings of sticks of powder 
should be slit before they are pressed into a 
hole in a rock. 

Two or more undermine blasts, or 
combinations of undermining with 
mudcapping, often are of advantage for 
breaking big rocks when electric firing 
is available. Their loading is discussed 
in detail on page 13. 



Better Boulder Removing 



Blockholing, This method of loading consists in placing the 
powder in the rock. Holes must be drilled about half-way through 
the center, the powder loaded in the bottoms of the holes, tamped 
in solidly, and fired as usual. Holes must be big enough to con- 
tain the proper powder charge, but no larger. 

Any kind of boulders can be broken by blockhole blasting — 
hard or soft, large or small. Usually blockholing is economical 
in breaking very hard and tough rocks, particularly when they are 
round and of large size. Ledges of rock underground can be 
broken by this method. In fact, when applied to ledges it 
amounts to simple quarrying. 



Drilling Holes. Usually f-inch holes 
are about right for blockhole blasting 
work. Drills of this size cost little 
money, are easily sharpened, and the 
drilling proceeds at a satisfactory rate 
of speed. Where larger holes are re- 
quired, 1- or 1 {-inch drills may be used. 
The progress of the hole making with 
them necessarily is slower. 

Drills may be purchased at any 
hardware store. Drill steel, in bars 
desired, may be bought and the drills 
made at home. Any blacksmith can 
sharpen them. The new drills should 
be observed carefully as to bevel 
and curve of bit edges. For sand- 
stone and verv hard rock the bevel 




Good tamping material may have to be 
brought some distance, and a shovel is desir- 
able. 

should be very short — say 65 degrees 
or even shorter. For soft rock it can be 
longer — say 45 degrees — with satis- 
faction. Where a blacksmith shop is 
not near, drills may be sharpened on a 
grindstone or emery wheel, though this 
is not very satisfactory where there is 
much sharpening to do. 



Machine or power drills should be 
used wherever the number of boulders 
is large enough to justify their purchase. 
They materially cut down the time and 
labor required and when wisely bought 
and used, they cut down costs. 

The i/oZes should extend a little more 
than half-way through the boulders. 
If they can be drilled down through a 
seam, all the better. 

The Charges of powder required will 
depend on the size of the rock, of course, 
but are more particularly governed by 
the size of the drill hole. Nearly always 
it is best to load the hole full of powder 
up to the point where tampiiig should be- 
gin. The tamping should be well 
packed to the mouth of the hole. It 
will not do to load the hole full or nearly 
full of powder, with little or no tamp- 
ing. Less powder and more tamping 
will give better results. One rule is to 
allow for tamping to a depth at least six 
times the diameter of the hole. Some- 
times it is necessary to drill holes deeper 
than otherwise might be necessary, just 
to provide tamping space. 

Priming and Loading. Priming 
should be done as usual (see pages 9 to 
16). The powder, blasting supplies, and 
tools should be carried to the field only 
after the holes are drilled, since drilling 
rock by hand is a slow job. 

Any water in the holes should be re- 
moved. The wrappings then should be 
taken from the sticks of powder, and 
the loose powder packed in the bottoms 
of the holes firmly. The wooden tamp- 
ing rod with which your work is done 
should be almost as big as the holes. 
The powder must not be struck or 
punched, but may be pressed to the 
extent of a tew pounds, in safety. 

When a small amount of tamping is 
needed, the material should be of good 
quality — heavy like clay, and damp 
enough to be stiff". Such material gives 
impervious, strong confinement. 

The Powder best to use for block- 
hole blasting depends on the nature of 

69 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



the breakage desired. Atlas Farm 
Powder will break rocks into large 
pieces about the size for one man to 
handle. Atlas Powder 50 per cent, 
will break them into smaller pieces. 

Ledges. The breaking up of out- 
cropping rock in cultivated land and 
roads, and even of rock that lies under 
two or more feet of soil often is as 
important as the breaking of boulders. 
Many fine fields are so underlaid with 
such rock that plowing and other deep 
tillage is interfered with, and deep root 
penetration is impossible. 

Often the rock is of slate, shale, 
or hardpan, though limestone, granite 
and other formations occur. The 
nature of the rock regulates the spacing 
between charges, but not the method of 
loading. 

To blast out ledges, locate the front 
edge, or the point at which the rock 
dips far enough below the surface 
so as not to interfere with cultiva- 
tion. Begin back of this a distance 
equal to the depth of the holes for 
charges That is, if the charges are 2.j 
feet down in the rock, place the row of 
holes an equal distance from the front 



edge. The spacing between charges may 
be a little more than this distance, but 
should be governed on that basis. 

Amount of Powder per Charge re- 
quired should be ascertained experi- 
mentally. Some soft slates and shales 
loaded with half stick charges wil[ be 
broken to a depth of one or two feet. 
Usually, however, it is well to apply the 
rule for blockhole blast charges (page 
69), which consists largely in filling the 
hole with powder to the point where 
tamping must begin for good results. 

The charges should be loaded and 
fired exactly the same as blockhole 
blasts. It is worth remembering, how- 
ever, that electric firing will permit the 
exploding of two or more charges simul- 
taneously, with consequent greater ex- 
ecution from both. 

The depth at which charges are to 
be placed should usually be governed 
by the depth to which the rock should 
be broken. Sometimes one foot of addi- 
tional depth is enough; again 2 or 4 feet 
are needed. The cost is directly in 
proportion to the depth of rock 
broken, both in drilling expense and in 
powder. 




Perfect breakage reduces the rock to pieces easily handled, without throwing any very far. 

Miscellaneous Features. The shape of rocks largely 
governs the method by which they can be best broken. A skilled 
blaster usually will determine in a few glances what had best be 
done — making up his mind to mudcap, to undermine or to drill, 
as the case may be. He mentally measures the length and thick- 
ness of the stone, and notes whether it has flat or round sides. 
The amount of powder required to break rocks varies. On^ 
70 



Better Boulder Removing 



stick, or two sticks, on a soft red sandstone or slate boulder often 
will reduce it to pieces so small that they need not be hauled 
away. A marble or trap boulder of the same shape and size might 
not be broken small enough for easy handling with three times the 
amount of powder. 



The safety factor in boulder and 
ledge blasting requires more judgment 
and caution than in stump or ditch 
blasting, and considerably more than in 
soil blasting. Big pieces of rock some- 
times are thrown considerable distances. 
Ninety-nine per cent, of the rock, in the 
form of broken pieces, may not fly more 
than a few yards at most, but the re- 
maining one per cent, may strike with 
force enough to break an inch board at 
100 yards or farther away. The safe 
thing to do, therefore, is to make certain 
before every blast that there are no 
people or animals within reach of flying 
pieces of stones. 

Along roads and near buildings we 
urge strongly the use of electric firing 
exclusively. The convenience of being 
able to time the blasts to the second 
is worth any slight extra cost. In ledge 
work electric firing usually results in 
ultimate economy. Fuse may be used 
where it does not matter if there is a 



delay in the explosion after the field is 
cleared. 

In blasting out banks of rock along 
roads or anywhere that the face is steep, 
the burden of rock above any line of 
charges should not measure more than 
one and a quarter times the depth of the 
holes. If it does, a second line of holes 
should be made at the proper distance 
above the first line. 

The use of 2 or more charges on one 
boulder is strongly recommended when- 
ever the rock is thicker than a couple of 
teet or longer than 2 or 3 feet. The com- 
bination may be two mudcap blasts a 
tew feet apart on top of the rock, or one 
on top and one beneath, or on opposite 
sides. It may be two or more under- 
mine blasts for long or broad stones. 
Such loading is both easier and more 
effective than single blasts for break- 
ing difficult rocks. It is an important 
feature of the advantages of electric 
firing. 




What can be done when a big boulder is blasted properly. Why permit them to obstruct your 
fields when they can be removed so effectively with the proper explosives? 



71 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



BETTER ROAD MAKING 

We will make no attempt here to explain the principles of road 
building. We take it that farmers and road officials who read 
Better Farming, and who have these problems to deal with, will 
understand what drainage, grading and widening of the track is 
necessary. 

Yet we know that labor problems, and those of expense, are 
preventing or delaying the accomplishment of many pieces of road 
building and improvement. It is to make the road man's work 
easier that we give the following suggestions. The methods here 
advised will get the work done with few men, in quick time, and 
at least cost in money. 




Whenever hard earth or rocks are encountered in road grading, blasting will cheapen and 

quicken the work. 

Loosening Material. The demand is always for a good 
solid road-bed. Mudholes must be filled. Ruts must be filled. 
Soft spots must be given a bottom. The best material to do this 
with usually is gravel, shale or slate, which is hard to dig loose. In 
fact, the digging takes more labor and time than the shoveling 
and hauling. 



Enormous quantities of this material 
can be shot loose with a small quantity of 
Atlas Farm Powder. It is safe to say 
that every stick of powder will loosen a 
load or more. If the powder costs 10 
cents, the loosening costs halfor a quarter 
of what it would cost if done by hand. 



The greater emphasis must be placed 
on this use of powder for loosening any 
material that is to be moved. Blast- 
ing leaves it ready for the shovel, or if 
charges are heavy enough and the ma- 
terial is not to be hauled, most of it can 
be blown out of the way at once. 



Ditches and Stream Channels. Ditches for drain- 
ing roads seldom should be less than 2 or 3 feet deep and 3 or 4 

72 



Better Road Making 



feet wide. Larger ones often are better. They can be blasted 
out cheaper, quicker and easier than by plowing. The chapter 
on ditching will give full directions for placing the charges, and 
for the kind of powder to use. See page 26. 

Where ditches have to be made across a road hardened by use, 
slightly heavier charges are needed than usual. By increasing 
the charges, nearly all the dirt can be thrown clear of the road, 
particularly if the wind is blowing across tKe road toward the 
ditch you are making. 









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f 




*^z 1, 



A grade we would all like to dodge, especially in bad weather. It would take only a few pounds 
of Atlas Farm Powder to level and make the necessary side ditches. 



In the bottoms of many existing 
ditches are ledges of rock and boulders, 
which obstruct the flow of water, and 
cause it either to dam up or fill up 
culverts with mud, or to flood back and 
soften the ground under the road. 
There is no other way than by blasting 
to remove these stones. Atlas Farm 
Powder or Atlas Powder 50 per cent, 
should be used either in drilled holes or 
in mudcap charges. See pages 65 and 
67. 

In many instances, where a road fol- 
lows along a large ditch or a creek, the 
bed of the stream can be moved or deep- 
ened by the use of Atlas Powder as in 
ditching. Serious flooding and washing 
away of the road can be avoided. This 
is particularly a good practice where 
the stream is crooked. Put the charges 
in a straight line, cutting across land 



round which the water now runs. 

At the turns of the present stream 
course may be found big boulders, 
ledges of rock, stumps, trees or other 
objects which deflect the water and 
cause curves in the stream. All these 
can be blasted out and a new channel 
made. 

It is not necessary to blast the new 
channels very deep and wide. If the 
water can get through it freely, it soon 
will cut and score out the bottom and 
sides till the space is big enough to hold 
the stream at flood. 

Ditch and channel cutting can be 
done with Atlas Powders just as well 
through ground matted with roots and 
full of stones as through open ground. 
When the charges are handled right 
the work can be done under water with 
entire satisfaction. 



Steep Grades on any road are an abomination. They are 
expensive. Not only because they cause frequent breakage and 
serious accidents, but because they delay traffic. Everyone who 
uses roads has an interest in seeing grades cut down. The best 
way to remove them is to blast out the earth or rock down to 

73 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

a point where the bottom of the grade is fairly level with the ad- 
joining road. 

Sometimes a road-bed can be lowered 
by blasting as for a wide ditch with sev- 
eral rows of charges running lengthwise. 
See page 28 for details of loading. 

Usually it pays to charge the holes 
heavy enough to blow most of the earth 
arid rock entirely out of the road so it 
need not be handled. Where this is not 
practicable the material at least should 
be loosened by blasting rather than 
by slow and expensive digging. Atlas 
Farm Powder is the best explosive you 
can get for these purposes in earth, 
slate, shale and soft rock. For hard 
rock Atlas Powder 40 per cent, may be 
used. In practically all cases electric 
firing is best for road work. 



Begin at one end and put a row ot 
charges across the road. When these 
are exploded (they should be placed 
shallow and should be light) a shelf will 
be found back toward the hill. Place 
another row of charges several feet be- 
hind the etlge of this shclt, and con- 
tinue until the desired result is accom- 
plished. It usually is best to place the 
charges about as tar back from the face 
as the depth of the holes. It will be 
found that up to 6 feet depth of earth 
canbe taken out in this way in one layer. 
If more than 6 feet should be removed, 
go over the ground with a second series 
of blasts after all the material loosened 
by the first series has been removed. 



Sharp Curves, which are perhaps the most fruitful cause of 
wrecks, nearly always are associated with narrow places in the 
roads. The remedy is to widen the road by cutting down the 
bank, which at the same time lengthens the curve. In some cases, 
where the road makes almost a half-circle around the point of a 
hill, it pays to cut through the point and make the roaci straight. 




A 10-foot cut which removed an ugly grade in a road. This work was practically all 
done with explosives and cost only a few dollars. This cut should have been made wider, and 
ditches blown along the sides. 



Blasting out the cut either through 
the hill or the side of the hill is gov- 
erned by the same principles as are ex- 
plained in the foregoing paragraphs on 
grading. It consists of blasting by 
shelves. Nearly always the material 
can be thrown clear of the road by a 
properly placed blast, though many 
times the material is of such a nature 
that it should be used for surfacing the 
road at other points. 



When blasting out a bank for any 
purpose, the charges should not be over- 
burdened. W^hen the bank is only 9 
feet high, or less, one row of charges is 
enough. Should it be higher, two or 
more rows should be used. The holes 
should be drilled 4 to 8 feet deep, and 
an equal distance apart in both direc- 
tions. A 20-foot bank, for instance, 
should have three to five rows of 
charges, one above the other. 



Better Road Making 



Nowhere else does the need for elec- 
tric firing make itself felt so much as 
in blasting anything on public high- 
ways. Traffic must be stopped Should 
a misfire result, the loss and inconveni- 



ence is great. The safety factor alone 
is enough to require the use of this 
method. It pays from a standpoint 
ot amount of material loosened, to fire 
as many charges together as possible. 



Hillside Grading. Many roads are built along hills. New 
construction oF this nature is quick and easy when the material is 
thrown down the hill from the upper side of the road with Atlas 
Farm Powder. One or two rows of charges will do the work. No 
plowing will be needed; a scraper will complete the work. 




Three wrecks occurred at this narrow place in the road. Such dangerous places 
usually can be done away with quickly, easily and cheaply with a few pounds of Atlas 
Powder, blowing the dirt entirely away so little shoveling or hauling is needed. In the case 
pictured, however, the slate bank provides the very best road making material, which should be 
used at points elsewhere on the road. 



Where hill roads have high sides, 
they should be removed with Atlas Farm 
Powder. Usually they cannot be taken 
off as cheaply by any other means. 
Narrow hill roads may be widened 
quickly and easily by blasting awa\' 
the hill side. Where stumps are re- 
moved from the new road, roots should 
be taken out to at least a foot below 
the surface. If they are not they 
will make an uneven surface within 
a year or two, because frost will lift 
them up. Small boulders will be lifted 
the same way. The stumps, roots, 
boulders, as well as ledges of rock that 
outcrop, should be blasted away to 
depths at which they will give no 
trouble in the future. 

Hand augers or drills are good where 



onh' a little work is to be done, but the 
use ot a power drill of the hammer t) pe, 
driven by electricity, steam or com- 
pressed air, is advisable if there is 
much blasting to do. 

The cost per cubic yard ol material 
moved is hard to estimate, because it de- 
pends to some extent on the skill of the 
blaster and to a greater extent on the 
kind of material. But in ordinary solid 
earth you can depend on loosening and 
throwing down the material so hand 
dump scrapers can get it, for less than 
half of the hand digging cost. If you 
have any work of the kinds named 
that ought to be done on your roads, 
we urge you to write our Information 
Division for specific estimate and in- 
structions. 



/5 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



MISCELLANEOUS WORK 

Better Post-hole Blasting 

It is entirely practicable to blast deep, narrow holes in hard or 
wet ground. What can be done with powder in this respect, when 
the loading is proper, will surprise anyone who never has seen it. 
The holes can be made nearly as wide at the bottom as at the top, 
and little wider than is required for the proper setting of fence 
posts or telephone poles. 

The advantages of blasting are that the slow digging is done 
away with. The blast will throw out much of the dirt, and will 
loosen all the rest that ought to come out so it can be shoveled 
easily and quickly. 

There is no advantage in blasting post-holes in ground so soft 
and loose that it may be shoveled without loosening. There is 
considerable advantage when the ground is ordinarily compact and 
there is more or less hard subsoil. Blasting is a very great advan- 
tage when the lower ground is hardpan, bound gravel or slate, 
shale or other rock. 

Hou) to Blast Post Holes, The powder must be distrib- 
uted evenly along at different depths from the bottom of the hole 
to within 1 foot to 18 inches of the top of the ground, using no 
tamping. 



Locating Charges. To make the 
idea clear, it may be stated that per- 
haps the ideal post-hole charge would 
consist of an ounce or two of pow- 
der every 3 inches from bottom of 
hole to top. But since such charges 
would be hard to load, small pieces of 
ordinary Ij-inch sticks must be dis- 
tributed at intervals of 3 to 12 inches in 
a bar hole made at the center of where 
the post-hole is desired. 

Boring Holes. Holes should be made 
with ordinary bar or auger, as noted on 
page 39. If rock is encountered, rock 
drills will be needed. See page 69. 
The holes should be as deep as the 
post hole is wanted. 

Spacing Charges. The exact spacing 
between pieces of powder should be de- 
termined by experimenting with differ- 
ent spacings on each job, as every soil 
and condition of soil requires somewhat 
different treatment. Usually it will be 
found that pieces of powder weighing 
about 2 ounces spaced 6 inches apart, will 
give good results. Sometimes this spac- 
ing may be lengthened without increas- 
ing the amount of powder in a piece. 
Again, the piece should be increased to 

76 



3 ounces, or even 4 ounces, and the 
spacing increased to 6, 8, 10 or 12 
inches. Once in a while it is best to 
use 2-ounce pieces with 3- or 4-inch 
spacing. 

Some blasters prefer to place a 4- 
ounce piece of powder in the bottom of 
the hole, and smaller pieces above it. 
Others prefer to use small pieces be- 
low, and nearest the surface a 4-ounco 
or even bigger piece containing the cap. 
They claim that better detonation is 
obtained in this way. 

The spacing determined on may be 
obtained in several ways. The best is 
to make cylinders of paper just big 
enough to admit the pieces of powder, 
which may be fastened at the required 
points with small nails or long tacks. 
Another good way is to tie the pieces of 
powder to slim sticks, at required inter- 
vals. A third way, not so good be- 
cause it leads to uneven spacing and 
sometimes to misfires, is to drop pieces 
of large weed stalks into the hole after 
each piece of powder is dropped down. 
The pieces of stalk or sticks must not 
be more than ^ inch in diameter, or 
they may interfere with detonation. 



Miscellaneous Work 



Whatever the plan, wadding or tamp- 
ing material must not be used between 
the pieces of powder. The hole must 
be left free. 

Firing of the charges is done by 
priming the top piece of powder and 
tiring by cap and fuse. 

The other pieces then explode by 
transmitted detonation, as in ditch blast- 
ing. (See page 31.) Ordinary cap 
and fuse usually is best for firing these 
charges, because it is cheaper, and there 
is no greater execution gained by firing 
several charges together. Along roads or 
anywhere else that it is important to 



time blasts to the second, and to avoid 
all misfires, electric firing, as described 
on page 13, is preferable. 

The Powder best to use for blasting 
post-holes is Atlas Powder, Low Freez- 
ing 50 per cent. This is a sensitive 
powder and detonated by transmitted 
shock in a thoroughly satisfactory man- 
ner. It will not freeze till the ther- 
mometer goes many degrees below the 
freezing-point of water. Atlas Farm 
Powder is not recommended for post- 
hole blasting. Yet it has been used with 
success, and when it is on hand it may 
be used with good results. 



Filling Up Gullies by Blasting 

More space is given in this book to other uses of explosives on 
farms, but not even stump blasting has such possibilities for the 
average farmer as the almost entire prevention of erosion and 
gullying, by means of blasting the ground. 

If proper blasting is done land will not wash. More than this, 
gullies already formed will fill up. The red shale and other medium 




Natural guUey caused by washing. No use to fill it up with soil. 

and light lands which wash so badly now, can be cultivated after 
blasting the same as level land. 

Ordinary subsoil blasting usually is enough to stop or to pre- 
vent the washing. See pages 89 and 90 for details of loading and 
page 101 for further discussion of erosion. 

If deep gullies have already been formed, put half-stick charges 
every 10 feet along in the bottom, 2 or 3 feet under ground. About 
every 60 feet put in whole stick charges and blow out craters. 
These craters and the entire gullies will fill up after a few heavy 
rains, to a level with the surrounding surface, with sediment 
leached from the soil at higher levels. Within a year or so, if the 
work is done properly, you will not be able to tell where the gullies 

77 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



were located. The blasting should be done in late May, or in 
June, July or August, when the ground is dry and will crumble. 

(See photograph below of gulley filled up, and note carefully 
how proper blasting will accomplish the desired result.) 

Immediately after the blasting a heavy cover crop should be 
sown. This is to take advantage of the condition brought about 
by the blasting and to fill the soil with roots that will help increase 
fertility and help hold the soil together, when threatened with 
future washing. The roots will keep the soil open and porous for 
many seasons. 

Before the blasting rain-water runs off the surface of unplowed 
ground in streams. When ground is plowed rain water soon 
soaks the 6 inches of loose top-soil. In both cases the surface of 
the ground is badly washed away. In plowed ground the water 




■>' 



^^ 




ir 



1 - 



"^■VUfci* ■*iJ.^»*v 



Two years before this spot was photographed a gulley as deep as the one shown on Page 77 
cut through the place where the camera case stands. Blasting in the bottom of the gulley caused 
natural filling till the middle is now higher than the sides. 

soon follows down hill above the plow-sole, carrying into the 
ditches or out of the fields considerable of the valuable plant food 
and quantities of the very best of the surface soil. 

After the blasting the rain-water promptly sinks into the 
ground, not 6 inches but 2 and 3 and 4 feet. The blasting loosens 
the ground for several feet down. In filtering through this loose 
earth the surplus water is freed of any plant food which may be 
leaching away, yet the escape of the excess water is helped instead 
of hindered, because no water-tight hardpan or plow-sole or layer 
of clay holds it. 

Draining Swamps with Atlas Powder 

In many swamps and ponds the water is held only by under- 
lying layers of clay or hardpan. Below this water-tight mate- 
rial is an open layer of earth which will carry away the water. 

Such places may be drained by blasting openings through the 
hardpan or clay down to the open ground underneath. Put down 

rs 



Miscellaneous Work 



one or more test holes through the bottom of the pond until you 
strike loose ground. You may have to go down as much as 30 feet 
to do this, or you may strike it within a few feet. A pond or swamp 
of half an acre usually may be drained with one blast. 

An extension dirt auger is best for making the holes. Put the 
hole down to the depth previously determined upon by the test 
holes, then "spring" it at the bottom with one stick of Powder. 
This will close the hole up slightly, but it can be opened easily. 
Fire this charge the same as you do the main charge. 

After giving the hole a few minutes to cool, lower the sticks of 
the main charge and press each one to the bottom of the hole. 
The primer should be a whole stick of Powder fitted with water- 
proof electric fuze. If water fills the hole you need no tamping. 
If it does not, tamp the hole solidly. 

The amount of explosive to use depends upon the depth of the 
hole and the thickness of the hardpan. If the hole is 6 feet deep, a 
charge of 4 sticks of Atlas Farm Powder is enough; an 8-foot hole 
should have 6 sticks; a 10-foot hole, 8 sticks; a 15-foot hole, 10 
sticks; a 20-foot hole, 15 sticks; and a 30-foot hole, 20 sticks. 

Use Atlas Powder 50% or Atlas Farm Powder. The latter, 
which costs less, should be fired more promptly after loading. See 
"stability," page 6. 

If your pond or swamp fills with water only during the wet 
season do the blasting in the dry season. If water stands too deep 
to permit you to wade do the work from a raft. Make the raft 
with a hole through the centre and run a 3- or 4-inch pipe down 
through this to the bottom. Do your drilling through this pipe. 
When the hole is loaded remove the pipe and raft. 

Excavating for Foundations 

In excavating, proper blasting with Atlas Farm Powder or 
Atlas Powder will save much work. You can take out a layer ot 
dirt 4 feet deep with Atlas Farm Powder by putting charges of 2 
sticks about 3| feet deep and every 3 or 4 feet over the cellar area. 

Keep the charges 2 or 3 feet from the to loosen the ground, as in subsoiling. 

sides. If the excavation is to be made If you find rock, blast the centre of the 

deeper than 4 feet, go over the same cellar out first. Then drill holes where 

ground with a second series of blasts put you want the edges of the excavation to 

down 3 or 4 feet in the new bottom. be and these blasts will throw the dirt 

If nearby buildings prevent you from and stones to the centre while keeping 

using heavy charges, use light charges the side walls straight. 

Breaking Up Ice Gorges with Atlas 
Farm PoAvder 

Ice often dams back the water so that it covers fields, destroys 
fences, and floods buildings. A few pounds of explosive will re- 
move any ordinary gorge and save trouble and loss. 

If the gorge is small, only one blast need be made; if 30 feet 
wide and of considerable length, more than one blast will be needed. 
Use charges of 3 to 20 sticks tied together. A proper blast will 
shatter the ice for about 20 feet. 

79 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Place the explosive as low as possible 
between the cakes of ice without putting 
it too deeply in the water. If the gorge 
is narrow and short, the charge may be 
placed near the centre toward the front 
or down-stream end. Remember that 
somewhere down in front and along the 
sides are certain key-cakes which lock 
the whole jam. 



Place the powder so that these cakes 
will be shattered, then the main gorge 
will break up. An electric blasting ma- 
chine is the best means of firing the 
charges, but the firing may be done with 
fuse and caps satisfactorily if fuses of all 
the charges needed are lit quickly, so 
that little time elapses between the dif- 
ferent blasts. 




Ice gorges frequently cause serious flooding by damming back streams. They may be removed 
in five minutes with a few pounds of Atlas Farm Powder. 

A Quick Way to Kill Groundhogs 

Groundhogs (woodchucks) often cause much damage by eating 
and knocking down clover, wheat and corn and burrowing holes 
which cause injury to stock. They may be exterminated or 
driven away with Atlas Farm Powder. 

When the groundhog is in his bur- and fuse. Stop up the mouth of the 

row explode a stick of powder 4 or 5 hole before firing. The force and 

feet back from the entrance. Prepare fumes of the explosion will kill the ani- 

the charge in the usual way, with a cap mal. 

Loosening Logs and Coal with 
Explosives 

Log piles, post piles, wood piles, coal in cars and piles and other 
material often freeze so tight that they cannot be loosened by hand 
without excessive labor. Atlas Farm Powder will shake them loose 
without damaging the material or throwing it about. 

Place a light charge near the bottom of the pile next to or 
underneath the "key" — that is, the log, post or place under the 
pile which when pulled out would bring the material down. Fire 
with fuse and cap or blasting machine. 



80 



Miscellaneous Work 



Quarrying with Atlas Powder 

If you are buying explosives especially for quarrying, get Atlas 
Powder Extra 30 per cent, or 40 per cent. Atlas Farm Powder 
will do the work very well if you have it on hand. 

Often it is of advantage to obtain stone for foundations, etc., 
from off the farm. Boulders when blasted in a good many in- 
stances will furnish just what is wanted as well as clearing the land. 

When quarrying it is better to expose the rock you want by 
stripping the dirt off the surface. If this dirt is of any depth 
Atlas Farm Powder will remove it cheaply. 

After the rock is exposed it may be broken up with Atlas 
Powder in a mudcap charge, as described in boulder blasting, 
provided there is a projecting ledge. A better way is to drill a 
hole in the rock. Deep holes and heavy charges will bring down 




A small charge of Atlas Farm Powder would quickly permit widening road at curve, avoiding 
accident from collision and possible bank slide. 

more rock in proportion than shallow holes and light charges. 
It is well to give consideration to the cost of getting ready to 
quarry, that is, the cost of stripping or removing the dirt off the 
rock, the kind of stone desired^ etc. Often the hauling costs 
make it profitable to do your own quarrying when you have the 
kind of stone and the quantity you desire. Write us telling in 
detail what quantity of stone you want; if the rock is not exposed 
tell us the depth of the stripping and the kind of rock. With 
this information we could give you an estimate as to costs. 

The work of digging gravel can be cheapened greatly by using 
small charges of Atlas Farm Powder. This loosens the gravel, 
allowing easy shoveling. The use of Atlas Farm Powder is par- 
ticularly helpful in cold weather. It permits hauling at least 
twice as much as when you depend on old hand pick work. 

81 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



BETTER BLASTING 
OF SOIL 

The governing principles of the actual blasting of soil are stated 
briefly in the next 15 pages for those who desire to know at once 
how to proceed. If you want to know why you should blast your 
soil turn to page 101. Here we tell how to do the work. Tests 
and field experience on a good many thousands of orchards, farms 
and gardens have shown what is required and what is not right. To 
tell how the work should be done is a comparatively short and 
easy matter. 



To make clear all the finer points of 
advantage that may be gained by blast- 
ing soil, and to explain how these, as 
well as the more obvious advantages, 
are brought about, requires more lengthy 
discussion. The blaster who loads and 
fires the powder may be satisfied with 
nothing more than direction for the 
actual process. The owner of the land, 
or buVer of the powder, however, should 
be innerested more in results of the blast- 
ing tfcan in the blasting itself, and for 
him v^e include further along a memor- 



andum of most of the factors that bear 
on the matter. 

For a consideration of the place of 
blasting in connection with other forms 
of tillage, and with general matters of 
soil fertility and crop improvement in 
orchards and on farms, the reader is 
referred to the beginning of the second 
section, on page 95. It is not possible 
from a briefer story to gain an idea of 
how soil blasting fits in the agricultural 
scheme, nor to acquire an understanding 
of what it will and will not accomplish. 




To get the heaviest crops of either large or small fruit it is necessary to subsoil the land with 

explosives. 

How to Blast Soil 

In the following pages we discuss the blasting of soil — not 
the blasting of tree "holes," or of garden plots or of corn land 
or any other special interest, except incidentally. Soil blast- 
ing for tillage purposes is the same whether trees or turnips 
are to be grown. The same reasons for doing it exist, the same 
results may be expected, and the actual blasting must be done the 
same. But, most important of all, whatever the crop to be grown, 
the principles that govern soil blasting should be understood fully. 
82 



Better Blasting of Soil 



What Soils to Blast. The fact that most land is benefited 
by being broken up deeply with explosives for one reason or 
another, does not mean that all land should receive this treatment 
or that the blasting should be done the same everywhere. In 
every case it is desirable that the soil be examined carefully before 
decision to blast is made. 




Young trees not planted in holes blasted with explosives should be subsoiled in the manner in- 
dicated here. Place a very light charge within 3 to 8 feet of trees. 



Hardpan. The hardpan condition 
haturally presents itself as the one most 
obviously demanding blasting; though, 
in fact, hardpan may not be causing any 
more actual limitation of crops than 
heavy clay or other adverse conditions 
mentioned farther along. Hardpan is 
caused by a light cementing together of 
soil composed of fairly fine particles and 
is not unlike clay in nature, except for 
the binding material carried. It is so 
compacted that water will not drain or 
gravitate through it, or even penetrate 
it to any useful extent by capillary 
movement. Roots cannot penetrate it. 

The layer of hardpan may be found 
within 6 inches of the surface, or perhaps 
not within 4 to 6 fee'^. It is harmful 
to crops, particularl)- to trees and such 
deep-rooting plants as alfalfa, if exist- 
ing anywhere within 10 to 20 feet of the 
surface, as it practically shuts oft 
ground water from the useful soils. 
The layer may be of anv thickness from 
6 inches to 30 feet, though perhaps 
the most usual hardpan is 2 to 4 feet 
thick. 

An important point to remember is 
that hardpan (or other soil conditions) 
may exist on one acre or a part of one, 
and not on an adjoining one. An or- 
chardist or farmer usually is familiar 



with the surface indications of every 
part of his place, but seldom realizes 
what is underneath. Examination 
should be made at numerous points 
to detect changes in soil structure. 

Cemented Gravel is a condition 
that exists more often than is sup- 
posed by land owners. The coarser 
particles are bound together as hard- 
pan particles are bound. During wet 
weather such soil often can be pene- 
••rated easily with a bar or auger, and is 
penetrated by water. As soon as the 
free water drains away, however, the 
soil becomes bound to such an extent 
that moisture will no longer move about 
in it, and roots, of course, cannot grow in 
it. Other bound gravels like hardpan 
are impervious to water and roots at 
all times. 

Bound gravel usually occurs in beds 
of one to inany feet in thickness, and 
may lie on the surface or deeper, be- 
tween layers of clay, muck or silt. It 
usually is found in streaks along creek 
bottoms. The soil auger is the thing 
that tells the tale. This type of soil 
is usually productive after it is broken 
up, though it is worth very little with- 
out the deep tillage. 

Bound Sand is another soil which 
presents the cemented condition period- 

S3 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



ically. In wet weather it may appear to 
be as mellow as any other sand, but 
when dried it becomes brick-like. The 
surface indications, if the type of sand 
extends to the surface, are extremely 
hard lumps with sharp edges. Abun- 
dance of organic matter in the top-soil 
may prevent the surface indications 
from showing, though the condition ot 
the lower soil may be bad. 

Bound sand is more likely to occur 
over whole farms than any other of the 
hardpan conditions, since it is found 
mostly in those sections where the pre- 
vailing soil types are of sandy nature. 
The condition nearly always extends 
down many feet, though a clay subsoil 
sometimes underlays the sand at a depth 
of 3 or 4 feet. Such sand is productive 
to a certain extent with ordinary till- 
age, but responds wonderfully well to 
subsoiling followed by proper after- 
treatment. There should be no hesita- 
tion about blasting this type of soil. 

Ordinary Sands, for the purpose of 
this book, include all sandy soils which 
do not get lumpy and which do not 
contain big proportions of silt or clay. 
Blasting usually damages them, owing 
to the coarseness of the particles. 



come "exhausted" by continued crop- 
ping, or they compact and in that con- 
dition resemble modified clay, and 
should be blasted. 

Light Loams containing no plow-sole 
and with subsoil light and open enough 
to permit free drainage and root pene- 
tration, should not be blasted. An excep- 
tion would be in gardens where the most 
intensive of tillage is desired, and tree 
beds, where every possible advantage 
must be secured before planting on ac- 
count of the years when thorough tillage 
will be impossible. 

Clay. This type of soil nearly al- 
ways is improved by blasting except 
where the layer is thin and near the 
surface, and is filled with abundance of 
organic matter. Whenever there is a 
hick of organic matter, deep breaking 
will be of decided benefit. 

Clay may be in a solid layer many 
feet deep, or may be only 6 inches thick. 
It may start at the surface, or at any 
point below the surface. Frequently it 
occurs in layers in different colors and 
consistencies, above and below loam, 
gravel, sand or other soil. As with 
hardpan, it is damaging to growth in its 
original pure, unbroken condition when- 




This cotton field, owned bv Lee L. Gait, Ardmore, Okla.. was subsoiled with explosives. It 
yielded 1775 pounds of seed cotton to the acre. 



Moisture storage and capillarv move- 
ment is decreased rather than improved. 
For consideration of clay subsoil, see 
below. 

Muck Soils within five to fifteen 
years of their original draining from 
the swamp condition are by nature full 
of organic matter, hence are loose and 
light. They are not benefited by blast- 
ing. Often, however, they have be- 

84 



ever it occurs within 10 to 20 feet of the 
surface. The clay formation is found 
throughout the entire country in almost 
everv section, and often forms the sub- 
soil of lighter surface ground, including 
sand. 

Often good farm land is underlaid 
within 3 or 4 feet with slate, shale or 
other rock. Sometimes thisrock comes 
so close to the surface that it interferes 



Better Blasting of Soil 



with the plow. It may be broken up by 
blasting, and makes the best of soil, 
holding moisture well, and producing 
big crops. A 6-inch soil can be made a 
4-foot one. 

We wish it were possible to point out 
the soils needing blasting by their usual 
classification, such as limestone, red 
shale and others, but each of these 
classes of soils is a series containing 
nearly everything from sand to clay. 
Whether thev are cemented into hard- 



pan or not seems to be an accident of 
nature; whether compacted to the point 
where they need loosening deeply, an 
incident of the care they have received. 
Soils of all kinds except those loose, light 
sands, mucks and loams mentioned 
(which have been abused, as on aban- 
doned and "worn out" farms) usually can 
be built up faster and made to yield big- 
ger crops by intelligent blasting in con- 
nection with the other proper culture 
methods as explained in this book. 



Soil Maps, It helps to know the general nature of the soil and 
subsoil throughout the entire locality, county or larger sections. 




This field was not subsoiled with explosives. It has the same soil as the one shown on page 84, 
and yielded only 624 pounds to the acre. 



For about half of the cultivated area 
east of the Rockies there are Govern- 
ment soil maps which describe the soils 
very much in detail, giving the facts 
about areas of clay, sand, gravel, hard- 
pan and other soils that occur. These 
maps are published in three series. One 
set covers a large section of a state in 
each map, and is called a "Reconnois- 
sance survey." Another covers a county 
to each sheet. These two kinds of maps 
are issued by the Bureau of Soils at 
Washington. Another series, issued by 
the Geological Survey, cover parts of 
three different counties. All the maps 
are sold by the Superintendent of 
Documents, Washington, D. C. 

An interesting relation apparently 
exists between the size of the soil par- 
ticle and the possibility of securing bene- 
fit from deep subsoiling, or the extent 
of that benefit. Clay, for one instance, 
and hardpan, as another, have exceed- 



ingly fine particles. 

The soil with the fine particles is 
benefited; the one with coarse par- 
ticles is not benefited. An exception is 
cemented gravel. 

Any soil that holds water on the 
surface for more than an hour needs 
deep breaking. 

Viewing Soils from the angle of the 
use to which they are put, or the man- 
ner of their handling, they should be 
blasted (except the loose sands, mucks 
and loams). Blasting should be used 
when soil is used for gardens, when it is 
irrigated, traveled (reads or paths) or 
pastured. Blast on hillsides to prevent 
gullying or washing, or where the soil 
holds up the water which causes 
drowned spots. The beds cf trees, in- 
cluding both orchard trees and ornamen- 
tal and fruit trees on home grounds, and 
the ground for all manner of small fruit 
and truck almost always should be 

85 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



5 or 6 feet at a representative place 
if there are no stream banks or gul- 
lies that show the cross-section of the 
soil, as a help in reading the borings. 
The actual degree of compacting or 
cementing, as well as the thickness of 
the various layers, can be determined 
more accurately by this method. 



broken deeply — excepting the coarse, 
open soils mentioned. 

The Soil Auger described in the 
stump blasting chapter, page 39, is an 
excellent means of investigating the 
under soil. Bore two or more holes 
on each acre, being careful to watch 
the borings or core from the auger. 
But it is well also to dig a hole down 

Condition of Soil Necessary for Blasting. Soil 
must be dry when it is blasted, or the results will not only fail to 
be beneficial, but may be harmful. Years ago, when soil blasting 
first was extensively talked about, this rule had not been laid down. 
As a consequence there remains to this day tales of trouble and 
bad effect caused by blasting. 

The degree of dryness necessary may be placed at the point 
where a soil has lost all its plasticity or stickiness. It should crum- 
ble when pressed, instead of packing, and this statement applies 
not only to the surface, but to a depth of 2 feet or more. If dry 
enough to plow it still may be too damp to blast properly. The 
amount of moisture that may be present without causing trouble 
varies with each particular soil. Gravelly or slightly sandy soils 
will hold a good deal without compacting under pressure; stiff 
clays hold little. The amount of organic matter has much influence. 




Result of blasting ground when wtt. One ' 
tightly compacted, making 

A blast in the ground exerts pressure 
against the earth surrounding the 
charge in almost the same manner as 
the pressure of a heavy blow with a 
sledge is exerted, could it be distributed 
as the blow of the gases is. In darnp 
or wet ground the effect of the pres- 
sure is to drive some of the earth in 
a mass away from the charge, and to 
pack it into other earth u foot or more 

36 



"pot-hole" that was dug out. The walls were 
a jug that would hold water. 

away. A hollow or cavity is formed, 
with hard walls. This is the familiar 
"pot hole." A fact not so well known is 
that one of these "holes" can be dug 
out of clay and in many instances wiH 
be found to have walls so thoroughly 
bricked as to hold water like a jug. 
Usually, though not universally, pot 
holes are indications of too much moist- 
ure tor proper blasting. And, needless 



Better Blasting of Soil 



to emphasize, the compacting of the 
soil is very harmful. 

In dry soil no such effects occur. The 
pressure causes a crumbling and break- 
ing apart of the earth surrounding the 
charges. A slight cavity may be 
formed, but nearly always the dry, 
broken ground above and about it 
caves in and fills it in an instant. 
There is absolutely no compacting. 



Some men say that ground can be too 
dry to be worked by blasting or in any 
other way, claiming that very dry soil 
powders and therefore looses its gran- 
ular structure. We, however, advise 
everyone to get soil as dry as possible. 
If it is dust dry do not hesitate. The 
next day may bring rain, and then a 
whole year may elapse before the proper 
condition is brought about again. 



The test for condition should be to take a sample of the soil in 
the hand and squeeze it. If it molds to the palm and fingers, it 
contains too much moisture for blasting. It should crumble under 
the pressure, and tend to run between the fingers. The sample 
should come from a depth of two or more feet or even deeper. 

When the ground is dry beneath the surface a heavy and pro- 
longed rain is required to wet it more than a few inches. Light 
rains, such as ordinary thunder storms, need not stop subsoil 
blasting operations if the ground was in the proper condition 
before the shower. The surface wetting makes no difference so 
long as the under soil is in the right condition. 

The Time of Year. The season best to do soil blasting is 
governed entirely by the amount of moisture in the soil. If the 
weather is very dry throughout April and May, as it once and a 
while happens to be, blasting may be done late in May or in June. 




One tree grew 18 years in blasted bed, other same period in unblasted bed. Both trees 
in same orchard. Hardpan beneath the latter has forced roots to surface. This unblasted 
tree also shows the effect of lack of enough food, which is because the roots have no room to 
spread as they should. 



Nine years out of ten, however, in 
most localities, soil will not get dry 
enough before August or September. 
The fall months are more often dry than 
those of spring. October, November or 



even December may see dry weather for 
weeks, with consequent possibility of 
subsoil blasting. In practice, July, 
August and September are the months 
when the condition required will first 

87 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



be found — and the work should be 
done then. No delay should be per- 
mitted once the right conditions are 
established, as rain may come any day 
and cause an indefinite wait. It is im- 
portant to note that whole seasons pass 



perhaps a little lime applied, the amount 
of puddling and compacting that takes 
place will be less. The action of frost 
over winter may help to mellow broken 
subsoil. 

Tree planters in Northern sections 




This is part of the orchard of George W. Brown. Mt. Cory, Ohio. The trees on the rig!:i 
were set in blasted beds eighteen years ago. Those on the left were set at the same time in 
unblasted boles. Note the diiference in size. 



sometimes without the soil once getting 
dry enough to blast. At such times it is 
best to wait for another year, except 
possibly in the case of subsoiling for 
preventing gulb'ing, which usually is 
required in more or less gravelly or 
sandy soil that will stand handling while 
fairly damp. 

Ground blasted in the fall for spring 
tree planting will puddle and compact 
somewhat over winter, but in most 
places the fall blasting is recognized as 
good practice. We recommend that 
anyone who desires to plant trees in the 
springgo ahead with his blasting the fall 
before. Ifcow-peas or other cover crops 
can be sowed over the blasted ground 
as soon as it is blasted (seepage 11 4), and 



will ask whether they cannot blast their 
ground in the spring in time for setting 
the trees. As noted in the previous 
paragraph, there are a few years during 
which April and May are dry enough 
to permit this. Generally, however, 
those who wait for dry weather then 
will be disappointed, and will be com- 
pelled to blast their ground when it is 
too wet, or to plant their trees without 
blasting. Of the two evils, the latter 
is the less unless the ground is only a 
little damper than it should be (differ- 
ences in soil, especially in organic mat- 
ter present, should be considered — see 
page 86), because trees planted with- 
out blasting may have their beds blasted 
the next year or later on. See page 94. 



Adaptation of Atlas Farm Powder to Subsoiling, 

As noted on pages 5 and 6, there are wide differences in the 
action of different explosives. Some tend to strike violently the 
material about the charges, and to grind to powder everything 
within 1 or 2 feet, while hardly disturbing the section beyond that 
distance. This action proves to be very poor for soil blasting or 
subsoiling. High percentage powders will do this, and will cause 
pot-holes and compacting of their walls even in ground dry enough 
to be blasted successfully with a proper explosive. The use of 40 
per cent, and 60 per cent, nitroglycerin dynamite for soil blasting 
years ago was responsible for much poor work. 



Better Blasting of Soil 



Atlas Farm Powder was designed 
for soil blasting and stump removing 
(which is only another form of soil blast- 
ing). The errors of other explosives 
were avoided in it, and it was given an 
action particularly suited to lifting, 
crumbling and breaking apart the earth 
about the charges for long distances. It 



will give the minimum of pot-hole efFect, 
the maximum of crumbling and break- 
ing without powdering and pulverizing, 
and will reach out to distances beyond 
comparison with the work of many 
other explosives. The chances are that 
if soil is blasted with another explosive 
it will not be blasted as well. 



Loading and Firing Soil Blasts 

To blast soil, first determine the nature of the underlying 
ground to a depth of 4 feet or more. Then bore or punch holes 
1^ inches in diameter to the proper depth, using auger or bar 
and sledge. Collect the powder and supplies, as directed on 
page 9, and load these holes with enough powder to break to 
the surface, but not enough to blow out a crater or to throw 




Two maples, one planted in the usual way and the other in blasted bed. The difference in size 

speaks for itself. 

the dirt into the air. Prime charges as directed on pages 9 
to 12 with caps and fuse. Space charges so they will overlap 
breakage of ground slightly, unless it is beds for young trees that 
are blasted, when charges should go where trees stand. This is 
the process in general. On the following pages it is taken up 
point by point in detail. 



The depth at which to place the 
charges is the first consideration. It 
should be governed in every instance by 
the nature and condition of the soil. Re- 
ferring to the notes on different soils, 
pages 83 and 84, it is seen that in most 
places there are distinct layers of clay, 
hardpan or other compacted earth that 
are to be broken. The charges of pow- 
der should be placed in these layers, 
provided they are not thicker than 3 
or 4 feet and are not more than 5 
or 6 feet under the surface at their 
bottoms or Igwest parts. The exact 



point in the layer that is best depends 
on the thickness of soil over the layer to 
be broken, and on the nature of the earth 
underneath it. 

For instance, if a 3-foot layer of clay 
or hardpan is to be broken, which lies 
under 18 inches of sandy topsoil, the 
powder charges ought to go one-half to 
two-thirds the way down through the 
clay or hardpan, or at a total depth of 
36 to 42 inches, provided the earth 
under the clay or hardpan is loose and 
open (such as sand or gravel). Should 
the underlying support be solid and im. 

89 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



pervious (as slate or shale), the charges 
should go deeper. In fact, they well 
may be loaded right down on the hard 
material. 

In case the clay or hardpan layer is 
thicker than 4 or 5 feet, or in case it lies 
deeper at the bottom than 5 or 6 feet, 
to break it through is impracticable on a 
commercial or economical basis. The 
aim under such conditions should be to 
shatter and crumble the top 4 or 5 feet 
only. Charges therefore should be 
loaded to within 10 to 12 inches of the 
depth of breaking desired. 

Sometimes the impervious layer is less 
than 18 inches thick, and lies near the 
surface — ^just under the plow depth, 
perhaps. When it is less than 6 inches 
thick it often can be broken to advan- 
tage with subsoil plows and other deep 
tillage machines. To blast such thin 
layers the charges must be located just 
at their bottoms, or within 6 inches 
underneath them. 

The depth must be such that, if pos- 



sible, the blasts will break through to 
the bottoms of the impervious layers. 
If the loading is too deep and the under- 
lying material soft and open the force 
of the blasts may be wasted to a large 
extent in the soft material. Only a little 
breakage oi the firmer layer may result. 
On the other hand, if the loading is not 
deep enough the blasts ma)' blow out to 
the surface without breaking downward 
entirely through the impervious layer, 
or downward to the depth desired. 

In every instance the proper depth 
for loading can be determined intelli- 
gently only by examination of the soil. 

The kind of tree or plant and whether 
it is growing or yet to be planted have 
little influence on the depth for charges. 
An apple tree sends its rootsdown farther 
than a strawberry or wheat plant, it is 
true, but both must have moisture from 
far beneath the surface during dry 
weather. Subsoiling will accomplish 
many other things just as important as 
providing easy root penetration. 




Two apple trees, left and center, one blasted and the other not. No need to say which is which. 
At right a shade tree making a remarkable growth because of blasting. 

Amount of Powder Per Charge. There is one rule for 
determining the amount of powder to use which works infallibly 
in every kind of soil. The blast should not blow out a crater, yet 
should break the ground to the surface thoroughly — and the pow- 
der charge should be just enough to insure this effect. 



A proper soil blast should throw a 
little dust into the air, or may throw a 
little loose dirt to a height of 2 to 3 feet. 
It should throw dirt no higher. After 
the blast the surface for 2 to 4 feet over 
the charge should be heaved or bulged 
upward 3 to 6 inches above unbroken 
surrounding surface, and should be 

90 



somewhat soft under foot. The blow- 
ing out of a crater even 6 inches deep 
is exceedingly bad practice. That is why 
the term "tree-hole" blasting is mis- 
leading. It is the ground where the tree 
stands or is to stand that should be 
broken by blasting. 

The matter of powder charge there- 



Better Blasting of Soil 



tore can be determined definitely only 
by test in each particular soil. The 
blaster first must investigate the soil, to 
learn its nature, as directed on pages 8."^ 
and 84. When that is done he should 
load one or more test shots at the proper 
depth for the soil condition found. The 
amount of powder used for subsequent 
shots should be increased or decreased 
till exactly the right effect is secured. 

In an average clay soil the following 
charges usually will give proper break- 
age at the depths specified: 

Di'pth. Charge. 

1 5 ft \ Stick (2 ounces) 

2 ft \ stick (2 1 ounces) 

2 J ft I stick (3! ounces) 

3 ft -5 stick (4 ounces) 

31 ft f stick (5 ounces, about) 

4 ft I stick (6 ounces) 

These figures of necessity are approx- 
imate only. They can be used tor a 
guide in loading the first test holes. 
The\ bring out the important tact that 



the proper amount of powder requires 
careful deterinination. Not only eco- 
nomical work but successful and satis- 
factory breaking and crumbling of soil 
depend on exactness of loading. 1 1 will 
not do to "guess" at the amount re- 
quired or to vary the charges 2 or 3 
ounces either way. 

Hardpan often requires more pow- 
der than is indicated above. When 
it is flint-like, double charges may be 
needed to break the soil to the surface. 
Lighter soils than clay may show proper 
surface effects with less powder. The 
final gauge is the slightly rounded mound 
of broken soil over the position of the 
blast, and this rule applies alike in fields, 
gardens and orchards. 

Few fields or orchards have exactly 
the same soil formation in all parts. 
Those who subsoil must test the soil 
often and with intelligent care, to detect 
any changes that require different load- 
ing. It may not do to let it proceed 
across a field without changing depth or 
loading. 




Pear tree on left and apple tree, both two years old, in blasted beds, and bearing fruit. 



Making Holes and Placing Charges. It is supposed 
that the blaster has previously prepared his charges for loading and 
firing as directed on pages 8 to 16. 



Usually the most convenient prac- 
tice is to prime as many pieces of sticks 
of powder as the job will require or as 
may be used in a half-day or a day, be- 
fore coming to the field. These primed 
charges may be carried in baskets or 
boxes, and should be well protected from 
possible rain or wet grass, and from the 
hot sun. 

Since the charges almost always will 



be fractions of sticks, it is important to 
determine before cutting up the powder 
and priming, just how much of a load 
will be needed. For the test shots the 
powder and supplies should be carried 
to the field and there prepared. In sub- 
soil blasting the fuse (or electric wires if 
fuzes are used) had better be tied to the 
pieces of powder with string. Experi- 
ence shows that no other arrangement 

9f 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



will give as satisfactory results. 

A l§-inch subsoil bar usually is the 
best tool for making holes, though there 
arc few jobs on which a soil auger of the 
same diameter does not come in handy 
for deepening holes well started with the 
bar. The sledge for driving the bar 
should not be too heavy. A man will 
strike more blows with a light one, 
which is what counts in soil. 

An apparatus to pull a bar when it 
gets tight in the ground will save con- 
siderable hard work and time. 



Power outfits for making holes for 
charges similar to those described on 
page 54 are of advantage on big jobs 
where there are no stones in the ground. 
Anyone interested should write us. 

The powder should be dropped to the 
bottoms of the holes rather than low- 
ered by the fuse. When charges are 
small pieces of sticks the best of tying 
of the fuse is none too secure. Caps may 
be pulled out of the powder very easily. 

Tamping should be done thoroughly, 
as on it depends to some extent the dis- 




It is easy to see which tree is growing in a blasted bed and which is not. Both the same age and 

variety. 



A special subsoil bar usually is about 
4 feet long, though any crow-bar can 
be used. Other tools that are needed 
are a wood tamping rod and the usual 
basket or box containing small blast- 
ing equipment, as described on page 9. 
No waterproofing material is required, 
since the soil must be dry when the work 
is done. Don't forget the gloves for 
handling powder. 



tance the blast will break the ground 
sideways. Dirt should be solidly 
tamped to the top of the hole. If 
tamping is neglected the blast will tend 
to blow out a crater. Compare, for 
illustration, the method of blasting 
post-holes, described on page 76, in 
which no tamping is used. 

The fuse (or wires) should be held to 
one side, or the rod may damage it. 



Spacing of Charges. Up to this point we have not distin- 
guished between blasting soil for ORCHARD, GARDEN, FIELD 
OR OTHER PURPOSES, as the governing principles are the same. 
Spacing of charges, however, usually is different for each purpose, 
and may or may not depend on the actual distance sideways to 
which the blasts break the ground. 



The breaking distance easily can be 
determined by observation of where 
trickles of dust and smoke arise from 
cracks in the ground at the time of the 
explosion, and by use of the probing rod 
(described on page 39). Usually the 
ground will be more or less crumbled for 
a distance nearly twice as far in all di- 

92 



rections from the point of the charge as 
the depth of loading. Beyond that, 
cracks will be formed for several feet, 
diminishing in depth and number the 
farther out they go. A 20-foot circle 
often is broken satisfactorily for field 
purposes by charges located 3 to 4 feet 
deep. In heavy clay and hardpan simi- 



Better Blasting of Soil 



lar charges, however, may break no 
more than 12 or 15 feet. Shallower 
charges extend to less distances. At 
what point in its extension the breakage 
is insufficient and unsatisfactory is a 
matter for personal judgment in each 
job, and the judgment should be based 
on the needs of the soil and the purpose. 

For Orchard purposes it often is 
enough to blast the bed for each tree 
with a single charge. This is the stand- 
ard recognized practice throughout 
most fruit-growing sections. The spac- 
ing therefore coincides with the spacing 
of the trees, which for apples usually is 
30 to 40 feet where filler trees are not 
used, and 18 to 20 feet with fillers. The 
table on page 88 gives the amount for 
the charge. Other tables on page 112 
give the number of trees and charges 
required per acre at each spacing. The 
amount of powder and other supplies 
required can be easily figured from these 
tables. 

Of late years there has been a con- 
siderable movement among some pro- 
gressive fruit growers toward the use of 
more than one charge for each tree. 
In some instances where clay, hard- 
pan or rock were encountered, three or 
five charges were used in each tree bed, 
to secure more thorough crumbling and 
wider range of it. These multiple 
charges usually are kept as light as pos- 
sible for the soil, and are spaced within 
4 to 6 feet of one another. 

Another practice which is rapidly 
gaining in popularity is that of blasting 
not only in the beds of the trees, but 
along the lines of the rows one or both 
ways. For ground that washes easily 
this blasting is of special benefit. 
When the soil layers are too thick 
to be broken through, the blast- 
ing will relieve the drainage by 
lowering the water table. It does 
away with the dangerous condition 
ot a reservoir of broken ground 
under and about each tree, into 
which water drains and is held, in 
time perhaps killing or at least 
stunting the trees. Blasting has been 
condemned in the past for having 
caused the death of newly planted 
trees, when single charges were used in 
heavy clay extending many feet deep. 
Orchardists readily will see the cause of 
the trouble, however, and will be able 
to judge of their own conditions. The 
charges should be close enough together 
along the lines so that good shattering 
is assured, with no unbroken sections 
to act as dams. 

It is entirely practicable to blast the 



entire soil of an orchard. When the 
ground between the trees is shattered, 
as well as that immediately under them, 
the growth of cover crops is helped, and 
by the time the trees have reached 
bearing age and have grown big root sys- 
tems, the soil can be developed into a 
high state of fertility and tilth. 

For Garden purposes the blasting 
should be specially thorough. What is 
needed is the crumbling and churning 
efl^ect secured only within a few feet of 
the charges. In this hurrying day and 
age there is little of the old-fashioned 
trenching done in gardens. Blasting 
of soil can be made to duplicate its 
efl^ects, except that the ground is not 
turned over — the topsoil is not buried 
and the lower soil not brought up. 

Charges ought to be close enough to 
one another so that the explosions will 
communicate at the full depth of load- 
ing. With very light charges the spac- 
ing may be as little as 3 or 4 feet. 
With heavy charges 6 to 8 feet ought 
to be satisfactory. Judgment of the 
operator (and on use of the probing 
rod) must determine the spacing. 

For Field purposes the spacing usu- 
ally should be the maximum at which 
satisfactory cracking is secured by the 
charges necessary to use. There is need 
for economy in field operations which is 
not present in garden work. The acre- 
age is larger and the crops of less rela- 
tive value. Twelve, fifteen, eighteen, 
twenty feet are usual distances. Ob- 
servation and investigation, however, 
form the only real basis for establishing 
the spacing, as has been pointed out on 
page 91. 

For Home Grounds, Lawns, Parks 
and other ornamental plantings, the 
spacing should be such as to give thor- 
ough work. As with gardens, economy 
is not as important in this blasting as 
the greatest possible good effect. The 
beds for trees and shrubs usually should 
be broken with more than one charge 
each, and the operator should pay strict 
attention to the nature of the soil. If it 
appears to be impervious, and is of such 
a depth that he cannot easily break 
through to porous layers beneath, drain- 
age lines should be blasted as in orchard 
planting. Flower beds should be broken 
up with light charges placed within 2 or 
3 feet of one another. The planter of 
ornamentals must bear in mind that 
his trees and shrubs likely will have to 
grow under adverse conditions of sod 
and neglect, horticulturally speaking. 
The preparation at planting time there- 
fore should be especially thorough. 



9S 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Firing Charges, In most instances soil blasting charges had 
better be fired with blasting caps and fuse. This method consists 
of crimping a blasting cap to the end of a piece of fuse cut to the 
right length, and inserting the cap in the stick or piece cf stick of 
powder, after which the fuse is tied to the powder with string. 




The finest strawberry patch in Delaware, fall 1915. Set spring 1915, on land subsoiled with 

explosives. 



The preparation of the charges is 
fully described on pages' 8 to 12, and 
the lighting of fuse is discussed at length 
in the stump blasting section, page 50. 
Matches are the best means of lighting 
fuse when only a few dozen charges 
are to be fired; when hundreds must be 
handled, a torch is best. Soil blasting 
permits of more leisure in fuse lighting, 
since the blasts are not particularly 
dangerous. 

The only instances in which simul- 
taneous firing of two or more soil 
charges is desirable or of advantage are 



those where the charges are placed close 
enough together to communicate, as, for 
instance, multiple charges for one tree 
bed, or thorough garden blasting. 
Simultaneous blasts close together make 
each individual explosion more effect- 
ive. The cost of electric fuzes is more 
than of blasting caps and fuse, however, 
hence electric firing adds expense. In 
small jobs, with a comparatively small 
number of charges, the extra cost does 
not make much of a total, but where the 
acreage is large it amounts up enough to 
make electric firing too expensive. 



Blasting Soil Under Living Trees and 

Crops 

Seldom is it convenient or profitable to have land bare of all crops 
when it is dry enough for proper blasting. To do so means the miss- 
ing of a full season in gardens and fields, and often the delaying of a 
cover crop in orchards. In addition to this, there are some millions 
of orchard anci ornamental trees already in the ground which have 
been planted without deep breaking of their beds. 



It is fortunate, therefore, that proper 
blasting of soil under living trees and 
plants does them little or no damage, 
even temporarily. Incorrect blasting, 
particularly blasting done when the 
ground is too damp or wet, or done with 
charges too heavy for the depth of load- 
ing, easilv can cause damage, but we take 

94 



it that anyone who subsoils his ground 
will study the suggestions and instruc- 
tions in this book and will use care in 
carrying them out, even as he does in 
handling the powder. In that case there 
will be no cause for regret. 

Blasting in fields of grass and grain 
may proceed without regard to the crop. 



Better Blastixg of Soil 



In cultivated fields where the crops are 
in 'rows (as potatoes and corn), the 
charges, of course, should go between 
the rows, as they can be loaded there 
with least tramping. 

Under standing trees the blasting 
may be done at any time the ground is 
dry, as discussed on pages 83 and 84, 
except possibly in the case of fruit trees 
of early ripening varieties that are heav- 
ily loaded, when the blasting may be 
delayed till after the harvest. It is under 
such trees that the greatest care must 
be used to get the charges right and the 
loading correct. Some slight disturb- 
ance of the summer growth of the 
blasted trees may be noticed (as from 
summer pruning), and the fruit of late 
ripening varieties may be slowed up for 
two or three weeks in its development, 
though not in coloring. 

When fruit trees are small these dis- 
turbances are of no account. With larger 
trees, however, in order to minimize 
the effect on the crops, it often is wise 
to blast only one side of the root s> stem 
in any one year, or even only a third or a 
fourth of it. When part only is blasted, 
there need be no hesitation about doing 
the work under the largest trees at any 
time the ground is in condition. 

The blasting of the ground under 
evergreen, shade and other ornamental 
trees, shrubs, vines and fiowers is sub- 
ject to the same governing principles. 
They are not harmed by summer blast- 
ing, it any. Very large trees, particu- 
larly those very tall and old, should 
be handled as large fruit trees are han- 
dled — partof their beds blasted one year, 
and the remainder the next one, two or 
more years. The chief reason is that the 
roots of old trees have to sustain enor- 
mous strains during wind storms, and if 
all the ground about them is loosened, 
their roots may pull loose if severely 
tested. 

Placing Charges. The depth at 
which charges should be placed, and the 
amounts of powder to use are exactly the 
same as though the trees were not there. 
These matters are governed by the 
nature and condition of the soil as 
found on investigation. The discussion 
ot this matter on pages 86 and 87 ap- 
plies equally well here. The only point 
of difference might be that lighter 
charges would be permissible should the 
blaster be in doubt. To use less powder 
is the safe course. Proper charges, 
which do not blow out craters, should 
break few roots. For instance, roots 
^ inch thick should escape damage ex- 
cept a battering of bark. Smaller roots 



may be broken, but larger ones should 
not be. Years ago it used to be the 
practice to place heavy charges 12 or 
15 feet directly under the trunks of trees. 
When the explosions occurred, the entire 
trees were lifted a kw inches. Such 
practice may not cause excessive harm 
in some instances, but is likely to, and 
we advise against it. 

The distance away from the trees at 
which charges should be placed is a 
matter of judgment in every case. To 
place them under the tips of the limbs is 
not a bad rule for wide-spreading trees. 
For very young trees the charges may 
be placed close enough so their crum- 
bling effect will just reach the outer edge 
of the main root system, and their 
cracking effect, which extends much 
farther, will penetrate under the trunk. 
Four feet away from trees that have 
been planted one year, and 5 feet from 
trees in the ground two }'ears nre good 
general rules. 

For older trees the charges should 
be placed just out from the points where 
the larger roots break into feeders. 
The difficulty is to learn where such 
points are. So far as fruit trees are 
concerned, the height of the tree may be 
some indication when considered in con- 
nection with its spread of limbs. Shade 
and ornamental trees should be judged 
carefully, and the doubt, if there is any, 
be given to the tree — that is, if the 
blaster is undecided as to the distance, 
he should locate the charges at the 
farthest outward point he thinks ad- 
visable rather than closer in. 

Drainage through impervious clays 
and hardpan is just as important in the 
blasting of standing trees as in the 
preparation of beds for young trees. 
Wherever the clay cannot be broken 
through to something more open be- 
neath that will carry away the water 
the blasting should be complete from 
tree to tree and round each tree. Other- 
wise water will stand in the blasted 
ground, as mentioned on page 102. 
Standing water is of no use whatever 
to roots of ordinary trees. In fact it is 
harmful to them. 

Test Shots. Whatever the depth 
of loading indicated by the soil, the 
amount of powder that seems to be re- 
quired from a study of the directions, 
or the distance away from the tree 
trunks decided on, the final authority 
should be the test shots. Observe 
carefully how far the ground is broken. 
Probe and shovel about in the broken 
ground for roots. Make any changes in 
the loading that seem necessary. 



P5 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Planting Trees 

A blasted bed is cracked in all directions. The one particular 
difference between planting in a blasted bed and in a dug hole is 
that the ground should be tramped tight against the roots in the 
blasted bed. When the blasting is done in the spring in time for 
planting there seldom will be entire absence of underground cavity 
left by the blast, owing to too much moisture. (Blasting MUST 
NOT be done when there is enough moisture to cause pronounced 
pot -holing and compacting of walls.) When the work is done in the 
summer or fall the ground may be dry enough so that cavities will 
not form. 




Evergreens respond to blasting of their beds as well as fruit trees, particularly since the 
soil of the average home grounds is very hard. The right-hand picture shows an apple tree on 
the Garacove Farm, Northeast, Md. Two thousand of these made an average growth of 18 
inches, season of 1915 — all in blasted beds. 



At the time of planting the trees, 
the workmen should make sure that 
not only actual cavities but loosened 
ground at the points where charges 
were located are punched and tamped 
until no settling will take place after 
planting. A long handled shovel is a con- 
venient tool for locating hollow places. 
The user should bear in mind that the 
shovel should be pushed down to a 
depth 6 inches lower than the depth of 
loading. 

When the blasting has been correct, 
the surface soil will have to be shoveled 
out. The shoveling is a quick and 
easy matter, however, as the ground is 
as loose as grain in a bin. When the 



shoveled hole is 12 to 18 inches deep, 
the bottom should be probed, as di- 
rected above. Any cavities should be 
found and filled, and the bottom of the 
hole afterward should be filled up to 
the proper depth for the roots with 
top-soil. The expression "Dig cut the 
smoke" has been used for this explor- 
ing of the under soil for hollow or loose 
spaces immediately after a blast. The 
term is a good one as it explains its own 
meaning. Blasted ground left over the 
winter will be somewhat settled by freez- 
ing, thawing and water, but not enough 
to make further filling unnecessary 
when the trees are planted the follow- 
ing spring. 



Pot-holes which have been caused by wrong blasting, together 
with the compact walls, may be broken and corrected by proper 
summer blasting, even though the trees have been planted. Large 
pot-holes are caused by soil blasts only when the ground is too 
96 



Better Blasting of Soil 



wet for the work, or when the wrong kind of explosive is used. The 
characteristic compacting of the walls of these underground cavities 
is illustrated on page 86. Charges should be located within 3 to 
5 feet of the trouble. Usually it is better to use three light charges 
for each tree or position. 

Reservoirs of Plant Food. In some old orchards where the 
soil is very poor it is of advantage to establish reservoirs to which 
the trees may send their roots for easily obtained food. To accom- 
plish this a large cavity should be blasted out in the middle of the 
space between trees. The hole then should be filled with a mixture 
of organic matter, and fertilizers, manures and sand or other light 
soil, and a covering of a foot of ordinary soil placed on the surface. 
Due attention must be paid to providing drainage in case the sub- 
soil is impervious. 

Laying Off the Tree Positions is assisted materially by 
the use of wire guicies or measures, and stakes. The blasting 
should be done accurately at the points the trees are to stand, 
not 5 or 6 feet away. To get it so requires careful measuring. 

When blasting is to be done in the spring immediately before the 
trees are planted two stakes may be placed at tree bed. They 
should be located with care by the use of a planting board. 
The board, about 10 feet long, has a hole near each end and a 
notch in the middle. It is used by putting the notch on a stake 
(previously set) that marks the exact position for the tree trunk, 
then driving pins through the end holes to mark the points in 
the ground for the two stakes. 

When the blasting is done in the fall, unless the planting is so 
small as to require no great number of stakes, the best plan usually 
is to stake off the ground for blasting and again for planting. 

To obtain the positions for the trunk ribbon, at the exact distances the trees 

stakes we advise your choice of two are desired in the rows. The method of 

methods of measuring. The first, and using is to stretch the short end pieces 

perhaps the most accurate in the hands across at right angles from the first row 

of ordinary workmen, is for the tri- of stakes or trees. The "rear" end of 

angular system of planting, and con- the main wire then should be fitted with 

sists of a triangle of wire each side of care at the proper point opposite the 

which is exactly, to within \ inch, the first tree in the previous row. 

desired distance between trees. A Blastingof the tree beds can be done 

small iron ring should be used at each with the wire in place, and the planters 

corner for fastening the wire. Start can follow immediately after the blast- 

the planting by setting two trees where ing. Or the end positions of the wire 

they should go along any side. Stretch can be staked with care, the blasting 

the wires up, with two corners at trees proceeded with, and the planting done 

or stakes already in place, and the third later by replacing the wire at the 

corner of the triangle always will mark stakes. 

the proper position for another stake or The trees should be fresh and moist, 

tree. It does not pay to plant trees in a 

A speedier method of measuring is to dry or shriveled condition. Unless the 

use a wire about 250 feet long, with rings roots and tops are plump, moist of 

on the ends, and to these rings other bark and healthy looking, it is best 

pieces of wire just long enough to reach to soak them in water — roots, tops and 

across the proposed rows. The main wire all — for some hours or days, 

should be marked with lumps of solder, Pack the soil solidly about the tree 

to which are wrapped bits of red string or roots. 

97 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

EVIDENCE 

"I have a prosperous growing young orchard which will attest the superiority 
of trees planted in dynamited holes over those planted otherwise." 

J. T. KELLY, Timberville, Va. 

"Powder shipped to Clark Brothers, Stuart, Va., arrived O. K., and it did a 
good iob for mv tree planting. Will alwavs use it for that purpose." 

E. A. RAINOUS, Stuart, Va. 

"Two years ago I found that trees planted in holes blasted with Atlas Farm 
Powder did nearly twice as well in growing as those on which no powder was used, 
and will use Atlas Farm Powder to plant every tree on my suburban place." 

J. J. FUNK, Webb City, Mo. 

"In blasting for cherry trees, I would not at all have believed what it would 
do to the ground. It was tough ground, with clay underneath, and the way it 
broke the dirt to pulverized ashes was a wonder. It is the only way to plant trees." 

L. W. BYRAM, 610 Kansas City Life Bldg., 
Kansas City, Mo. 

"Having used some Atlas Powder last year in tree planting and subsoiling 
I can say it is the greatest labor saver, and gives the best results of anything I 
ever heard. Whenever I wish to plant any trees, the holes will be prepared with 
Adas I'..rm Powder every time." R. L. KARCHER, Haysville, Pa. 

"The trees were planted two years ago and were one->ear-old whips when 
planted. They were Sta>'man Winesap trees. There is strong indication of fruir 
en the tree that was planted with Atlas Farm Powder, for this year. If my indica- 
tions are correct, I will be more than pleased as they will be only 3 years old. There 
IS nc indications of fruit on the trees that were planted in spade-dug holes." 
PIPPIN HILL FRUIT FARM, Blairstown, N. J. 

'T set out 264 trees last year. While crops were ruined for want of rain, 

every tree lived and thrived vigorously, much to the surprise of neighbors, who 

said I would lose every tree. One thing is settled in my mind. Planting fruit 

rees without dynamite is obsolete, wasteful of time and money. I cannot afford 

L I plan* without blasting. I am using it again this year." 

V. J. IRWIN, M. D., Springfield, Mass. 

"I have used great quantities of dynamite for blasting tree holes. The 
land here in Dade Count}-, Florida, is extremely rocky. My method is to place 
a i ^avy charge at the bottom of a hole about 2 feet deep. I leave the broken 
reck in the hole. Dynamiting is a great advantage in our rocky soils. The larger 
part of the citrus groves set by me have had dynamite used where the trees were 
set." E. V. BLACKMAN, Miami, Florida. 

"In April, 1912, 5 .Manted with dynamite 225 apple trees and the same time 

-' I lanted with a spac e 20 apple trees. The difference between the trees where 

dvramite was used ard chose where dynamite was not used is almost beyond 

■it -ription. I only los. out out of 225 planted with dynamite and I lost 4 out of 

' -:"'ade-planted. The difference in growth from April to October the same year 

six .? eight inches." J. A. McLAIN, Fredericktown, Pa. 

"Some iv." vars ago I used some of your Farm Powder in tree planting. The 
I isults have been more than satl^^l"tory. I used it in setting sugar maple and 
a.so soft maple and peach trees. We have a large number of customers who have 
examined the trees mentio -id above, and who are now using dynamite for setting 
their own orchards. We are „'so selling it for stumps and boulder work, with good 
results." ^ J. F. BURGE, St. James, Mo.^ 

"Without the use of dynamite it is necessary to dig the holes at least three 
A^et in diameter and two feet deep. If the hole thus prepared is filled with new 
soil and the tree planted in it, the tree 'nay thrive for a year or two, but the roots 
soon meet with the smooth and compacted sides of the hole, through which they 
have great difficulty in penetrating. The tree is in about the same situation as 
if it had been planted in a large tub. W'h^-n dynamite is used, however, the cracks 
are formed in the soils to greater dertlis than would be reached by hand digging — 
to distances of five or sometimes six feet on all sides. This makes the very best 
conditions for the continued growth of the tree, 'w tree planting dynamite is 
recommended confidently as the best method of pre^ aring the soil." 

HAWAII AGRICULTURAL EXP STATION, Honolulu, ^ 
Bulletin 38, on "The Us.. ; V'yramite in Farming." 
Pc? 



Better Blasting of Soil 



EVIDENCE 

"I have used > uur Farm Powder setting out trees and same has proved en- 
tirelv satisfactorv. Will use it this Fall to subsoil about five acres." 

WM. S. LUXSTUN, Fredericksburg, Va. 

"I can truthfully say I have gotten entirely satisfactory results from planting 
trees with Atlas Farm Powder." 

V. G. HUMPHREY, Ocean Springs, Miss. 

"We have used a considerable amount of Atlas Farm Powder in planting 
pecan trees and believe it to be indispensable. We will plant a large number 
of pecan trees this fall and expect to use Atlas to do the work." 

BLACKLEDGE BROS., Muskogee, Okla. 

"Relative to the condition of the fruit trees on our State Fair Demonstration 
Plot, which were planted with Atlas Farm Powder, wish to state that there is a 
verv remarkable advantage in favor of the trees planted with dvnamite." 

JOSEPH W. EAKIN, Nashville, Tenn. 

"After having used explosives in planting 800 fruit trees, and comparing 
results for the past three years with trees not dynamited, am so thoroughly con- 
vinced ©f the benefits, that I would not plant a tree of any kind without using the 
explosives. I have also reclaimed and rejuvenated three acres of hardpan, water 
leached spots in farm field that was absolutely worthless before blasting, and which 
now is producing good crops." R. W. SMALL, Nowata, Okla. 

"In the Spring of 1912 I set out 22 apple andpeach trees, six in spade-dug 
holes and sixteen in blasted beds, using Atlas Farm Powder. The first year I 
could see no difference in the growth of these trees, but at the end of the fourth 
year the trees set in the dynamited holes were fully one year ahead of those set 
in spade-dug holes. This convinces me that it pays to use dvnamite in planting 
fruit trees."^ RALPH A. GUTH, Wescosville, Pa. 

"Two years ago we used Atlas dynamite in preparing ground for the setting 
of one thousand orange and grape fruit trees and the results so far are satisfactory. 
The trees are in fine shape and larger than any we have seen at any other point 
at the same age." 

J. A. CARR, Hattiesburg, Miss. 

"An orchard of about 75 trees which was planted in 1878 in a very tight soil 
had always been slow growth until last year, when I blasted around them, using 
a half stick on each side of the tree, placing them sometimes 3, 4, 5 and 6 teet from 
the trees, depending on the size and roots of the tree. The larger trees would need 
shaking up more, so the charge was placed closer to them. It was astonishing 
how the trees took on new life and started to grow again, and they have grown 
more in the last vear than thev have in the five vears previous." 

W. j. PUETTE, Brevard, N. C. 

"Holes were prepared for tree planting with dynamite. Experiments in 
1905 proved to us that dynamite was the cheapest and most efl^ective method ot 
preparing the soil and opening the soil for the planting of fruit trees. Not only 
was the earth finely powdered, but the usually compact soil surrounding all spade- 
dug holes was loosened up and softened and made good soil into which the finest 
roots could penetrate with ease. Strong root growth in a fine hole was made pos- 
sible in a very short period oi time." 

H. B. FULLERTON, Director L. I. R. R. Exp. Station, Medford, N. Y. 

"Your booklet 'Better Farming' was received and read with much interest. 
Two years ago I was employed to replant 5 acres of pecan trees that had died. 
Upon examining the ground I found it a very stiff clay and while a fair hole had 
been dug the clay was so hard the roots could not penetrate further than the loose 
dirt and the hole acted as a sort of a reservoir for water and many trees had died 
from too much moisture. I believe in giving a tree a fair chance and told the 
company I wouldn't replant till dynamite was furnished. I used }4 stick for pecan 
and X stick for orange trees and the newly planted trees show the benefit of the 
work. All trees started out and made a good growth and while the season was 
wet, no water stood around the trees. I have 20 acres to plant in December and 
will use dynamite in each hole. In clearing cut over land I used dynamite to 
cut off green pine trees and the results are very satisfactory.^ Any one planting 
trees in clay ground makes a mistake if dvnamite is not used." 

EDWIN B. BOOTH, Big Point, Miss. 

99 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Cropping and Fertilizing Blasted Soil. 

To derive the maximum benefit from the deep breaking of blasting 
soils must have introduced into them an adequate supply of or- 
ganic matter without delay. If they are plainly lacking in any 
element of plant food, as nitrogen, phosphorus or potash, that 
element should be supplied in one form or another. Should they 
need lime for any reason they should have it immediately — tree 
beds particularly. 



Whenever it is possible — and it 
should be possible in almost every in- 
stance — the ground to be blasted should 
be planted in a heavy-rooted crop at the 
time. Corn is good. A leguminous 
cover crop such as alfalfa, sweet, red, 
crimson or other clover, or some kind 
of peas or beans is better. Lacking 
these, rye, turnips or even a heavy growth 
of weeds is desirable. This crop should 
be planted in orchards as well as fields. 
The object of having the crop on the 
land at the time of blasting is that the 
roots will penetrate the loosened and 
crumbled ground to depths previously 
not attempted by them, and they will 
do it without loss of time, before any of 
the effect has been lost through puddling 
bound to follow heavy rains. If possible 
the entire crop should be plowed down 
not later than the following spring. In 
case a crop like corn is removed, it pays 
to sow turnips or other catch crops for 
turning down. 

When there is no crop on the ground 
at the time of blasting (trees are not re- 
garded as a crop in this sense) one 
should be planted as soon as possible. 
In an orchard the cover crop can be put 
in as earl)' as the middle of June, and in 
the case of spring blasting this is highly 
desirable. 

The more organic matter that is 
turned down and developed in roots 
during the seasons immediately follow- 
ing blasting, the longer the effect of the 
blasting will last and the greater will be 
the response in increased fertility, bet- 
ter tilth, and productiveness. 

The Sod Mulch system of managing 
an orchard can be made much more 
effective if the soil is blasted occa- 
sionally. The characteristic compact 
"sad" condition of the under soil, due 
to lack of stirring and to tramping, 
can be changed to one of mellowness 
and openness. The blasting aerates it, 
lets roots down, and improves bacterial 
conditions, things which cannot be ac- 
complished by a>iy other means under 
the sod and among the roots of trees. 

Shade Trees along streets, walks and 
on lawns and yards can be cultivated 
by blasting. The ground about them 

JOO 



gets compact, dry and sterile. The 
trees become stunted, yellow and ugly. 
Careful blasting reverses the soil pro- 
cesses and starts the tree beds to be- 
coming more fertile. Moisture condi- 
tions also are improved 

Roads and Paths through orchards, 
across fields and over lawns often are 
made carelessly. Even those inten- 
tionally made frequently have to be 
broken up. The under soil is much 
compacted and it can be crumbled and 
opened properly only by blasting. 
Without the use of powder years of 
plowing and cropping would not re- 
store the original productiveness. With 
proper blasting, however, the soil can 
be made mellow in a season or two. 

The holes usually are hard to make 
in such ground in dry condition. A 
good plan is to make them when the 
ground is wet and soft in the spring 
and leave them till midsummer, when 
they can be cleaned and the blasting 
done. 

Terracing for the prevention of 
washing is largely unnecessary when 
ground is blasted properly, yet there 
are places in the heads of small hollows 
and elsewhere, toward which flood water 
gathers naturally, where terraces will 
provide additional insurance against 
gullying. 

Powder can be used to advantage in 
making the terraces. Single furrows 
should be plowed across the slope where 
each terrace is to be made. Lines of light 
charges then can be loaded from the 
bottoms of these furrows. They should 
contain enough powder to blow out 
craters, but should be loaded no deeper 
than the bottom of the excavation for 
the terrace. 

Hardpan and Shale in Spots. There 
are areas of soil where blasting is im- 
perative; that is those underlaid with 
hardpan, slate, clay, etc. Trees or any 
other crops will not grow well without 
it. The point is to find out if your 
fields have such under-soil, and if so 
blast the soil. T/ie blasting has to he 
done before trees will succeed as they 
should on such land Without blasting it 
is worthless; after blasting unexcelled. 



Better Blasting of Soil 



How Long Will ''Blasting'' Last? The 

a description of what happens in blasted ground. 



lies 



When the soil is crumbled, and each 
particle soon is surrounded by moisture, 
the several feet of loose ground hold 
more than enough water to grow big 
crops. The water is stored so it cannot 
escape in dry weather if the surface of the 
ground is shaded or cultivated. Roots 
can get it just as they want because it is 
in the form of moisture films, and be- 
cause they can penetrate so easily. 

This excellent supply of moisture is 
just what is needed to make the bacteria 
thrive and increase. They begin to work 
on organic matter and on the insoluble 
mineral plant food elements, and helped 
by the dissolving action of water and the 
oxidating action of the air, they release 
enormous quantities of potash and phos- 
phorus which have been locked up since 
the beginning of time. Organic matter 
in the ground is broken down immedi- 
ately by the combined action of bac- 



teria and water and air, and its food is 
made available. 

In response to the abundance of 
water and food, plants take on new life, 
make heavy growth and fill the ground 
with roots. All this means new organic 
matter, more bacterial and more chem- 
ical action, more new nitrogen from the 
air, and additional potash and phos- 
phorus from the mineral soil elements. 
The roots supply enormous quantities 
of organic matter or humus. Before 
blasting there is poorer growth because 
of a scarcity of plant food and water. 
After blasting there is heavy plant 
growth because of abundant food and 
water, and the abundance of these 
things is kept up. 

With proper care and after-treat- 
ment blasted soil should get more mel- 
low as the years go by. 



Why Soil Should Be Blasted 

Every implement or process on a farm or in an orchard has its 
place, and in many instances is almost indispensable. A plow, for 
illustration, is a necessity. It does certain work that must be done 
before crops can be grown to advantage, and we would have a 
hard time getting along without one, or trying to substitute 
another implement for it. A spring-tooth harrow is not so neces- 
sary, though it too has its distinct place in agricultural operations. 



The intensive deep tillage to be se- 
cured by blasting of soil has its place, no 
less distinctly and surely than the work 
of a plow and of a spring-tooth harrow. 
In this book it is not enough to state 
that the blasting of soil will help to make 
bigger crops of fruit, grain and vege- 
tables. Practical readers will want to 



know just what effects in the soil they 
can expect if they do blast it. When 
that is known they can judge for them- 
selves what the effect will be on trees 
and plants. The specific place of soil 
blasting in modern farming and orchard- 
ing operations therefore shall be pointed 
out. 



Erosion. To start with one of the most familiar features, 
proper blasting of soil will prevent erosion — which means not only 
the familiar washing and gullying common in every section of the 
world, but the less noticed loss of the best part of the top soil 
through its more or less even floating away in surplus water. Blast- 
ing prevents erosion by opening up the lower soil so rain-water 
sinks deep as fast as it falls. Instead of sinking only to plow depth, 
filling the top soil within a short time, and then tearing along the 
surface, the water strikes no bottom within several feet. There 
is enough loose ground to absorb it. During the hours and days 
that follow all the free water is allowed to seep and filter away, 
but it goes gentlv, carrying no fine soil or plant food as baggage. 

JO/ 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



The value of this service will be 
appreciated by the man who has seen 
his corn or potato rows almost torn 
our by water, or who has seen the dirt 
washed away from the roots of his 
trees. It is not unusual for otherwise 
fine fields to be rendered almost worth- 
less because they have washed. Even 
more often it is a side or corner of a 
field that washes, or a spot that slopes 
more than the rest of the land. 



These areas of land which are subject 
to erosion should be blasted. Blasting 
will do more toward preventing the 
trouble than any other single treatment 
can. The use of cover crops is necessary 
in order to maintain the conditions 
established by blasting. In extreme 
cases terracing is needed to obtain full 
benefit from the blasting. The deep 
breaking with powder is the founda- 
tion. 



Root Penetration, Closely associated with the prevention 
of erosion from the standpoint of condition of soil, is ease of root 
penetration. Roots have remarkable facility in penetrating hard 
soils. Sometimes we even find them growing through rocks. But 
let no one doubt but that such growth is made at great ex- 
pense of growth above ground, or of yield of fruit or other crops. 
When the object is to obtain yields, it pays to make root growth 
easy. 

On page 87 we picture two trees which show a contrast between 
easy and impossible conditions for root penetration. The subsoil 
is hardpan, but under the one tree this was broken. The other 
tree has not succeeded during the many years of its life in pene- 
trating the hard subsoil, with the result that the entire tree has 
been lifted till the crown is above the surface of the ground. 



While hardpan and rock naturally 
are primary causes of restricted root 
development, any poor or dry condi- 
tion of soft soil may operate to the 
same end. In other words, stiff clay 
or other soil containing no organic 
matter and so compacted as to be im- 
pervious to moisture will not be pene- 
trated by roots. The reason is that 
they have nothing to penetrate for. 
There is no available plant food below 
the looser top-soil. 

The remedy for lack of root pene- 
tration, whether of trees of any age, 
or of a garden or field crop, is to break 
up the compacted condition, let in the 
air and organic matter, provide free 
drainage and a store of moisture in 
capillary form. When this is done 
roots will develop millions of small 
feeders and will reach out in a manner 
not known before. 



Wind damage to trees with shallow 
roots is an important factor in many 
places. The trees blow over easily 
when not well anchored. Breaking up 
their beds previous to planting, or even 
later on if not done before, will enable 
them to send down anchor roots that 
will hold the trunk and top against any 
ordinary wind. Many orchardists go so 
far as to say that firmer root anchorage 
prevents a certain important propor- 
tion of the usual blowing off of fruit. 

The depth of root penetration is 
important in dry weather. W^hen the 
moisture is exhausted in the upper few 
feet of soil, shallow-rooted trees and 
plants are bound to suffer, but those 
with roots which penetrate to where 
the soil is always moist have a plentiful 
supply. Deep rooting also is important 
from a plant food standpoint as men- 
tioned further along. 



Drainage. Not only swampy ground should be blasted, but 
ground usually dry — as a guarantee against trouble during rainy 
periods or during wet seasons. After the water arrives the blasting 
cannot be done properly. When there is an impervious layer of 
clay, hardpan or other material, breaking through it may let the 
excess water escape below. Even where the layer is too thick to 
break through, the level of damaging water is lowered into the 
under soil. It does not stand on the surface. As a rule the blast- 
102 



Better Blasting of Soil 



ing hastens the drying of ground after rains and in the spring, 
owing to the freer seepage conditions established. 



Blasting, however, should not dis- 
place plans for underdrains except in 
pasture and timber land. Rather, it 
should be used to help the drains by 
breaking up the ground between the 
lines. If this is done they can be laid 
further apart. Instances are known 



where the ground was so soggy and 
stiff that underdrains failed to carry off 
the water. It would not gather to the 
pipes. After the area between the lines 
was blasted, however, the ground dried 
off perfectly within a few days after 
every soaking. 



Moisture Supply. The same breaking that helps drainage 
increases the supply of moisture for use in dry weather. The reason 
is explained on pages 108 and 109. yf soil well crumbled and deeply 
broken will hold ten times as much water for use in dry weather 
as when it is compacted. Not only that, but the moisture is dis- 
tributed better and is enabled to move upward toward the surface 
and in all directions toward roots. To improve moisture conditions 
is one of the most important reasons for blasting. 











Photograph at left shows two trees, the one on your right washed out from blasted ground, 
the other from unblasted ground, at the New Jersey Experiment Station. Drawing shows, at 
left, how roots develop in blasted ground, and at right, how they are limited in spade-dug boles. 

Plant Food and Fertility. Blasting helps to increase the 
amount of plant food that is available in a soil, to prevent its 
waste, and to secure distribution of available plant food through- 
out the entire feeding area of soil. By causing surplus water 
to filter and seep away slowly it prevents leaching and loss of 
plant food. Through various agencies it helps to release immense 
amounts of plant food naturally in the soil, but now in an insoluble 
or locked-up condition. By creating better conditions of tilth, 
largely on account of moisture and bacterial improvement, it pre- 
vents the reversion to insoluble forms of plant food already avail- 
able or that may become so. For this reason it helps to make com- 
mercial fertilizers more effective. On blasted soil smaller applica- 
tions are required to produce equal results. The deep intensive 
tillage helps to secure from the soil a supply of potash impossible 
to obtain in fertilizers to any effective extent at the present. 

JOS 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

Blasting, to sum up, helps to bring plant food through the soil to a depth 

about the condition of soil that is of several feet. When roots penetrate 

necessary before plant food in it, native deeply and find good feeding conditions 

or commercial applied, can be main- all the way down, the growth and pro- 

tained in an available condition. It duction of the trees or plants is beyond 

helps to release potash and other in- comparison with anything they do when 

soluble food elements. It helps also shallow-rooted. They have a greater 

to bring about an even distribution of capacity to take up food. 

D^elloW Soil. The importance of a good physical condition 
of the soil is generally understood by everyone, and is discussed 
at length on later pages. Here we want to point out that the first 
step toward changing a harsh soil to a softer condition is to crumble 
it well. That is what blasting does. The granular condition then 
comes about naturally. And how else can the lower soil be crum- 
bled or broken.^ It is the experience of everyone who blasts soil 
properly and follows the blasting with proper cover cropping and 
other care as advised here, that its cloddy nature tends to disap- 
pear and that it mellows well down into the subsoil. 

Finally, blasting in all soils requiring it from a tillage stand- 
point usually saves considerable time, and more labor, in the actual 
planting of trees. It is no easy matter to dig holes for trees, and 
the troubles of the planter who tries to get workmen to dig them 
big enough are well known. When trees are to be planted right 
it pays to loosen the ground for shoveling with the proper sub- 
soiling charge of powder. 

Thrift and health of trees and plants mean better growth. 
The explanation of the bigger crops, bigger fruit, bigger trees, earlier 
bearing which usually follow the blasting of soil lies in the more 
abundant plant food, the better moisture conditions and the deeper 
rooting which blasting helps to bring. 

Factors of Modern Fertilization 
and Tillage 

The following brief outline of certain important factors in the 
relation of soil blasting to soil fertility and productiveness does not 
make a connected story. The subject is so large that only a series 
of views can be taken of it from various angles in such a brief space 
as this. The more or less mutually related points are discussed one 
by one, with the main object of showing what there is to learn 
rather than of exhausting present knowledge of the matter. It is 
easy enough to think of soil blasting as a means of breaking the 
ground so roots can penetrate easily, and that, unfortunately, has 
been a view widely taken as expressing the gist of the matter. It 
is hoped that these notes may give an idea of the real heart of the 
subject. 

Objects of Tillage. Farmers of note have stated, after 
lifetimes of work and study, what in their opinions constitute 
the real objects of the tilling of the soil. One such statement 
is this: 
704 ■ 



Better Blasting of Soil 



1. To secure uniform conditions all 
over the field so that growth will be 
equally good on every foot. 

2. To develop and maintain a great 
effective depth of soil, so that there will 
be ample living room, an extensive feed- 
ing space, and large storage capacity for 
moisture and available plant foods. In 
other words, to increase the depth of the 
root zone and make of it all, to the very 
bottom, a sanitary living and feeding 
place for the roots of trees and plants and 
for soil organisms — adequately drained, 
perfectly ventilated, sufficiently warm. 

3. To increase the humus of the soil 
through a deep and extensive incorpo- 
ration of organic matter, so that there 
may be a strong growth of soil micro- 
organisms and a high content of water- 



soluble plant food materi;ds. 

4. To improve the tilth and main- 
tain the best structural condition of the 
soil, so that the roots of trees and plants 
and the soil organisms may spread rapid- 
ly and widely to place themselves in clos- 
est contact with the largest amounts of 
food materials. 

5. To control the amount, to regu- 
late the movement, and to determine 
the availability of soil moisture, so that 
there never shall be an excess or defi- 
ciency. 

6. To determine the amount, move- 
ment and availability of water-soluble 
plant food materials in the soil. 

7. To reduce the waste and loss of 
plant food materials through washing, 
weed growth and other channels. 



From Lucius L. Van Slyke, Chemist of the New York Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station, the following on the conditions needed 
in soil to promote plant growth, is interesting: 



1. Abundance of available plant 
food. 

2. A physical structure which, first, 
combines mellowness and firmness, per- 
mitting roots to extend their growth 
freely; second, which enables the soil to 
receive water, easily, distribute it 
promptly, hold it sufficiently well, and 
give it up as needed by roots; third. 



which permits some circulation of air, 
and, fourth, which makes the soil able to 
absorb heat and to maintain a degree of 
warmth suited to plant growth. 

3. The presence of beneficial micro- 
organisms and conditions favorable to 
their growth. 

4. Absence of injurious amounts of 
substances poisonous to plants. 



How Plants Feed. The one great fact that must be re- 
membered is that roots can take up food from the soil only after 
it has been dissolved in water. The term "stone soup" has been 
used to characterize the solution. 



Nor does the restriction end with 
the dissolving of the food elements. 
Roots of ordinary crops and trees can- 
not take up water in free form. That 
is, in water as we see it, they are help- 
less and may drown. Before they can 
use water it must be in thin films of 
moisture about soil particles. The 
hair-like feeding roots encounter the 
particles and even wrap their tendrils 
about them. The food solution, as the 



water carrying plant foods may be 
called, then is absorbed through the 
thin walls of the feeding roots. 

It is to be seen from this that roots 
cannot feed in soil that is packed, even 
though such soil may have abundance 
of plant food in its composition. The 
number of particles is important as 
well as the presence of the right amount 
of water. But there are other checks, 
as will be explained. 



Nature of Soil. Some soils naturally are more fertile than 
others. In studying why one produces more than another, the 
fact soon becomes plain that it is not so much the materials or 
composition that make the difference as the condition ot the soil. 
Both the poor and the good soil may have the same composition, 
but in either one the elements are differently mixed or handled. 

105 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



A study of the agencies which have 
formed soil, and of how they work, is 
valuable, as it shows us how we may 
treat unproductive soils artificially to 
make them good. 

Soil is composed of disintegrated, 
powdered and partially decomposed 
rocks, mixed with vegetable matter. 
Heat, cold, water, and growth of roots 
were some of the physical forces which 
helped to break down the original rock 
to its present stage as soil. Other forces, 
acting chemically, are air, acid, secre- 
tions of plants, and action of micro- 
organisms, such as bacteria. 

By inducing these same forces to 
continue their work, a soil can be broken 
further down, and more of the unavail- 
able plant elements it carries can be lib- 



erated. The productiveness of a soil 
depends of course on its origin and kind, 
as that controls the actual amount of 
plant food elements it carries. But the 
productiveness depends to a far greater 
extent, in practice, on the fineness of the 
division of the particles, since the forces 
listed can act only when they can "get 
at" the soil in a large way. See the 
discussion of particles on page 103. 1 1 
is for the purpose of subjecting the lower 
soil to the same changes that have 
made top-soil mellow and rich that 
blasting is recommended as a means 
of increasing the plant food supply. It 
lets in air and organic matter, regulates 
the moisture supply, and helps establish 
bacterial activity. 



Amount of Plant Foods Used by Crops. The 

amount of plant food used by an average crop on one acre has been 
determined bv some investiaators to be about as follows: 



Crop. 

Apples 

Beans 

Cabbage 

Corn 

Oats 

Onions 

Peaches 

Peas 

Potatoes 

Tobacco 

Tomatoes 

Turnips 

Wheat 





Phosphoric 






Nitrogen. 


Acid. 


Potash (K.0) 


16 lbs. 


16 lbs. 


19 


lbs. 


75 " 


30 " 


30 




198 " 


70 " 


270 




82 " 


48 " 


55 




s'; " 


TT 


62 




71 " 


37 " 


72 




75 " 


21 " 


90 




107 " 


33 " 


52 




46 " 


21 •• 


74 




75 " 


16 " 


200 




32 " 


20 " 


54 




79 " 


52 " 


180 




42 " 


16 " 


21 





In connection with the above table, 
the table of plant food elements in 
various crops, notably in legumes, to 
be found on page 110, while intended 
for another purpose, is also valuable 
here. 



1 he application of commercial fer- 
tilizers should be based to a certain 
extent on the above figures, though of 
course the particular requirements of 
the soil to be fertilized will have a large 
bearing. 



Relation of Organic Matter and Plant Foods. 

By organic matter is meant anything of a vegetable nature that 
may be in the soil without life. Roots and stalks of plants are the 
most usual form, though sawdust would be so classified. 

When organic matter decays, it gives off acids which act chem- 
ically on the unavailable plant food elements in a way that changes 
them to water-soluble forms. In this direct action organic matter 
is an important agency in keeping soil fertile. Bacteria "feed" on 
the organic matter. Bacteria and other beneficial micro-organisms 
J06 



Better Blasting of Soil 



cannot multiply without organic matter. Their enormous enrich- 
ing effect is lost from the soil which does not have its full supply 
of decaying roots, leaves and stalks. 

Organic matter is important also by reason of direct effect it 
has in loosening the soil, preventing it from compacting and in 
holding capillary moisture. A soil well supplied with organic 
matter will not dry out as quickly as one not well supplied. 



It is not enough to have the top foot 
or so of soil filled with organic matter. 
The undersoil must contain abundance 
of organic matter if its plant food is 
to be available or if a good condition of 
general tilth is to be maintained below 
plow depth. Blasting of soil opens up 
this lower soil to proper moisture, to air 



and to roots, with the result that it soon 
is penetrated thickly by roots which in 
turn die and furnish material to keep 
the soil in good condition and to attract 
other roots down below the usual depth. 
Potash, phosphorus and nitrogen all 
three are made available through the 
action of organic matter. 



How Soils Gain Available Food. There are five chief 
ways in which a soil may gain in available plant food. The first 
and most obvious is the application of commercial fertilizer. A 
second, not often thought of, is the 4 to 8 pounds a year of nitrogen, 
besides smaller quantities of other materials, that are carried into the 
soil of each acre in rain-water. Manure made from feed not grown 
on the land is still another source. Finally, there is the nitrogen 
added to the soil through the work of bacteria, of legumes and the 
phosphorus and potash mined by roots themselves in the subsoil. 



Intensive deep tillage has a bearing 
on the application of commercial fer- 
tilizers, as explained on pages 120 and 
121, but a far more direct bearing on 
the plant food secured from the air and 
lower soil. When roots go deep in well 
broken subsoil they bring up new plant 
food. Such soil also gives up more 
and more of its native insoluble food 
elements through the oxidating action 



of air and the dissolving action of 
water. The upward and downward 
movement of moisture carries this re- 
leased plant food to the roots. These 
things cannot happen, however, in a 
subsoil that is compact and impervious 
to moisture, or through which roots do 
not penetrate freely because of a lack of 
mellow physical condition plus the at- 
traction of food. 



How Soils Lose Available Plant Food. It is not only 
the plant food taken up by crops which is lost to soils. Every year 
some elements are lost through leaching, by changing into gas, 
which escapes into the air, and in other ways. If conditions in the 
soil are such that this loss is rapid no amount of care or fertilization 
will keep up the fertility. 



In preventing the losses, the prime 
factor is fine particles, though organic 
matter both directly and indirectly 
is also of importance. When a soil is 
well crumbled, and is open and loose 
several feet down, water can neither 
wash away the surface soil nor leach 
away the plant food it dissolves. The 
particles absorb or pull to themselves 
the atoms of plant food in the water. 
Organic matter helps by holding larger 
quantities of moisture. 



The deep breaking of soil first fines 
and opens it. Then roots penetrate it, 
and cause an accumulation of organic 
matter. As a consequence blasted soil 
will not lose plant food to nearly the 
same extent that an unblasted soil will. 

Another form of loss, which consists 
of the reversion of available plant food 
to insoluble forms, is discussed in the 
paragraphs on Drainage, Moisture Sup- 
ply and Plant Food on pages 102 and 103 
and also on page 108. 

107 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Micro-organisms including Bacteria, The impor- 
tance of the minute plants and animals which live in the soil almost 
unknown to the average orchardist and farmer is now beginning 
to be rightly appreciated. Without them crops, plants and trees 
will not thrive, and in most places will not live long. 



The most familiar bacteria are those 
that grow in the roots of clovers, peas 
and beans, and which act to cause an 
accumulation of nitrogen from the air 
on the roots. Others, however, are 
almost equally important. For in- 
stance, lime as ordinarily applied to the 
soil is not readily soluble or available 
for use of plants, but bacteria or other 
micro-organisms change it into soluble 
form. Native insoluble phosphorus 
likewise is acted on by bacteria. 

It is not usually known that farm 
manures, ground rock, fish, tankage, 
green manures, and slag phosphate are 
not available to any large extent as 
applied, but are made available in the 
soil by the action of bacteria. Native 
insoluble potash is taken up by bac- 
teria and transformed into chemical 
states in which roots can use it. In 
some instances, bacteria build plant 



food elements into their bodies as they 
grow, and then return them when the 
bodies decay. When bacteria are suffi- 
ciently numerous, they themselves con- 
stitute a source of organic matter. 

It is only in a mellow, moist soil that 
bacteria will thrive however. Only 
after the soil has been well broken and 
crumbled, and has received a supply 
of organic matter, as well as lime if it is 
needed, will they take hold, multiply 
and spread. They require air. Too 
much water kills them. 

They are numerous in the top-soil. 
The lower soil, however, is normally shut 
off from them because it is too compact, 
too uncertain and shifting in moisture 
supply, too lacking in vegetable matter. 
Blasting opens the lower soil to roots, 
air and proper moisture conditions, 
hence directly promotes bacterial de- 
velopment and activity. 



Water in the Soil. The harmful effects of too much water 
are so plainly to be seen in every community that little needs to 
be said on the subject here. 

Free water must be drained away or 
trees and plants .will not grow. Roots 
cannot take up their food when free 
water is present, and in fact the food it- 
self may revert to insoluble forms owing 
to lack of bacterial activity and to cer- 
tain chemical reactions produced by the 
excess water. A point not always under- 
stood, however, is the line between free 
water and water which is useful to plants. 
The effects of a lack of water are equally 
plain, but just what happens in a soil 
and within plants when the moisture 
supply runs low is another point not 

universally known. 

Water is necessary to plants because 

it furnishes two plant foods, hydrogen 

and oxygen, on which they feed heavily; 

it helps in the "digestion" of practically 

all other plant foods, after which it is 

passed into the air in enormous amounts, 

in this process helping to maintain the 

proper temperature of the leaves, and it 

is one of the essentials for bacterial life 

and activity. Within the soil water 

dissolves plant food and serves as the 

base of the solution on which roots feed, 

acting as the carrier of food to the plants. 
Any water in the soil in volumes like 

drops or larger is free water, and is harm- 

/OS 



ful to roots rather than beneficial. 

The form in which water is useful is 
when it is held as thin films of moisture 
surrounding soil particles. The word 
"moisture" is a good one in this place, 
as it brings out the essential difference 
between useful and harmful forms of 
water. Capillarity is a force which causes 
water and other substances to cling to 
surfaces of solids. It is what makes a 
knife or stick or hand wet after it is 
dipped in water, and what makes a 
blotter take up ink, or a wick take up 
oil. Capillary moisture, then, is the 
moisture or dampness which clings to 
the surface of the particles or lumps 
after all the free water has drained away. 

The amount of capillary water a 
soil will hold is determined by the 
amount of surface that can be covered 
by film. Right here is the nub of the 
whole matter. If a soil is compacted, 
as stiff clay sometimes is or as hardpan 
is, little surface area will be exposed. 
If it is bruken up in a coarse manner, 
there will be many times more surface. 
In sand, where the particles are still 
smaller, the area exposed is perhaps a 
hundred times as great; in mellow loam 
or clav it is several hundredfold more. 



Better Blasting of Soil 



Por illustration, one pumpkin big 
enough to fit snugly into a bushel meas- 
ure will have about 800 square inches of 
surface. Half-inch potatoes filling the 
same measure will have more than 
16,000 square inches of surface. The 
potatoes can hold 20 times as much 
capillary water as the pumpkin. 

To bring home to ourselves the real 
meaning of these figures, and ol the 
possibilities in water storage in soil 
under proper conditions, consider that 
each cubic foot of soil contains enough 
of surface to cover 1 to 3 acres if it 
could be spread out flat. The film 
moisture in an actual acre would cover 
the surface 3 to 7 inches deep. 

But such capacity is possible only 
when the soil is in perfect tilth. The 
particles must not be puddled together. 
They must lie alone, or be held in the 
granules which permit space for the 
moisture films. Moisture capacity can 
easily be cut to half, to a fourth, even 
to a tenth of what it ought to be. 

The necessity for maintaining all 
possible moisture against periods of dry 
weather requires emphasis. It is best 
given in the following table of the 
amount of water required by crops. 

1 Ton Growtli Requires In Indies 

(Weighed Water in Deep Over 

When Dried). Tons. an Acre. 

Apples 900 8 

Clover hay 1500 14 

Corn fodder 600 5 

Oats 1200 11 

These figures are subject to much 
variation on account of varying soils 
and seasons, and even of varieties. They 
serve to bring out the essential truths of 
the matter though, and to prove that 
deep rooting is absolutely essential. If 
the crop of clover hay should be 4 tons 
instead of one to the acre, water enough 
to make a layer 56 inches deep would be 
required. A bushel of apples weighs 
about 50 pounds, and a 200-bushel crop 
perhaps is less than usual. To grow it 
takes 40 inches of water for the fruit 
alone, and likely 5 to 10 inches more for 
the leaves and new wood. 

The problem therefore is simple. If 
1 foot of soil will hold 3, or 4, or 5 inches 
of moisture (the inch depth is a conve- 
nient way of speaking of the amount re- 
quired), how many feet of depth in the 
soil will be required to hold the essential 
20 or 40 or 60 inches of water that 



the crops require. And if soil must be 
fine and loose to hold anything like its 
full capacity of capillary moisture, how 
can it be made so at depths below the 
reach of plows except by blasting fol- 
lowed by introduction of organic matter 
and other proper treatment? 

As a matter of fact few soils are 
so fine and mellow below a few inches 
from the surface that they will hold 
their full moisture capacity, nor will 
blasting and subsequent workings make 
them do so. But it will crumble and 
break them up sufficiently to bring the 
holding capacity to half, two-thirds or 
even three-fourths of what it would be if 
perfect. 

Little is said in the foregoing about 
capillary movement of water in soit. 
The same conditions of tilth which make 
for storage of moisture permit that 
moisture to move about freely — up and 
down, and in all directions — moving to 
the roots, and rising from many feet 
down in the ground during dry weather. 
In soil not open and fine, there can be 
little movement of water, even drainage 
of free water. 

Air in Soil. What has been called 
the "first commandment of the tillage 
creed" is to let air into the soil. The 
processes that make soil fertile and 
plants grow cannot go on without air. 
The lack of air in some compacted soils 
is what makes them poor. Air helps to 
release native insoluble potash and phos- 
phorus and helps to increase bacterial 
activity. Blasting introduces air into the 
soil in quantities and to depths impossi- 
ble of attainment by any other means. 

These points serve to show what in- 
tricate details must be kept in mind. 
When soil is broken deeply by blasting 
the application of lime in proper form 
often will help to maintain the fine con- 
dition established, will help to liberate 
more insoluble plant food, and in gen- 
eral will make the effect of the blasting 
more complete. If applied to the sur- 
face at the time of blasting or before, 
the first heavy rain afterward will carry 
much of it down to the bottom of the 
broken soil. 

By opening the soil so it can be 
penetrated blasting helps the distribu- 
tion of lime to depths it could not pos- 
sibly reach in unbroken soil. The lime 
is placed in touch with all the soil par- 
ticles, and can act on them at once, 
without the usual delay of years. 



J09 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



EVIDENCE 

"My strawberry field is spring set, and is perhaps the best patch in Delaware. 
Before this land was blasted it was heavy and hard to work. Water stood on it. 
Since it was blasted it has been drained, and it is much lighter and more fertile." 
O. A. NEWTON, Senator from Sussex County, Bridgeville, Delaware. 

"It is with pleasure that I can testify to the beneficial results of Atlas Farm 
Powder on my farm in Hanover Co., Va. I used it last spring on a field that held 
the water most of the year and now it is dry and growing a fine field of wheat. Also 
on my garden which was wet and soggy, and as a result I had a fine garden all 
summer." IRA E. DAY, Hilldene Farms, Doswell, Va. 

"My garden was in hard clay, with no top-soil. I subsoiled it with fifty-five 
charges of Atlas Powder, and had the finest vegetables last year of any one in the 
town. I also set all my trees, vines, etc., in blasted soil and they are doing fine. 
The use of Atlas Farm Powder pars handsome returns." 

R. B. HENDERSON, New Albany, Miss. 

"Success in farming depends to a large extent upon the maintenance of proper 
conditions for aeration and drainage. Otherwise it seems impossible to hold nitro- 
gen in the soil in an available form or to bring about a suitable regulation ot the 
water supply or ot the distribution of air among the soil granules." 

HAWAII AGRICULTURAL EXP. STATION, Honolulu, 

Bulletin M on "The Use of Dynamite in Farming." 

"The plants on my subsoiled cotton patch reach up to my neck in most places. 
So far, by two pickings, I already have taken off nearly two bales per acre. This 
subsoiled patch is far ahead of undynamited cotton. From it I will cut one-third 
to one-half bale per acre. My seven acres of sweet potatoes beat anything that is 
in this country for growth. They were subsoiled, and I am sure of 300 bushels 
per acre. Mv alfalfa is fine on dvnamited land. I am just about to make the 
fourth cutting." ARTHUR WILSON, Crosby, Texas. 

"I subsoiled a piece of my land in March and that season it produced 102 
bushels of corn to the acre. Previously it had been making 35 to 40 bushels to 
the acre with the same cultivation and fertili7ation. In November, that year, 
it was sowed to wheat and made 54 bushels to the acre, and immediately the wheat 
was harvested, the land was planted in corn and made 40 bushels to the acre. 
If I had time I would subsoil all my land with dynamite in the fall and let the 
ground hold the winter rains." A. J. PIRKLE, Buford, Ga. 

"Mountain Creek, Ala., May 9 — J. Sterling Moran, United States Govern- 
ment demonstrator at Thornsb}-, subsoiled land near here with dynamite to show 
conclusively the advantages of the subsoiling process. It was shown that last 
year a farmer near Brewton, Ala., doubled his yield on cotton, by blasting the 
subsoil. A farmer near Talladega increased his cotton crop so that he realized 
$45 per acre more than he did the year before. A farmer near Marbury increased 
the \ield of corn from twenty-five bushels the previous year to nearly one hundred 
bushels for 1913." NEWSPAPER DISPATCH. 

"I am fully convinced of the economy and efficiency of farm blasting, and of 
Atlas Farm Powder. Too many farmers are prone to overlook the requisites of 
adequate root development in farm crops, and so unknowingly cut down the 
possible protluction of their land. This is particularly true in Oklahoma, where 
so much of the land is underlaid with stratas of heavy, tight subsoil, which tends 
to cement together. I have proven conclusively the great value of subsoiling with 
farm powder when the work is followed by the proper deep-rooted crops. The 
benefits extend over a long period of time. One field which would not grow enough 
corn to pay for harvesting was subsoiled. The first season afterwards it made a 
gross return of J39.40 an acre. Adjoining land, similar in every respect but the 
blasting, gave only J21.55 an acre with the aid of heavy fertilizing, while without 
any attention other than usual cultivation a third piece of the same land yielded 
five bushels of corn to the acre." 

F. L. ROUNSEVELLE, County Agent, 
United States Dept. of Agriculture, Checotah, Okla. 

J/0 



Better Blasting of Soil 



EVIDENCE 

"We Iiave used explosives considerably in digging tree holes and in the heavier 
clay subsoils always have found the results highly useful in underdraining and in 
holding moisture." 

T. J. W. TETIRICK, The C. V. Nurseries, Blackwell, Okla. 

"I used Atlas Farm Powder last spring in setting fruit trees, they certainly 
grew fine this summer, better than I expected. I also used dynamite for stumps 
and boulder blasting with results better than I expected. I find it good practice 
to have farm explosives on hand at all times." 

PERCY H. SMITH, R. 3, Bound Brook, N. J. 

"I thank you for the book 'Better Farming.' It is very interesting. I set 
300 orange and grape fruit trees four years ago, at Largo, Fla. They were all set 
by sub-soil blasting. It is one of the best young groves anywhere around. I 
will set 300 more trees and will use your powder. I also expect to do some ditch- 
ing with your powder this fall." E. J. PHELPS, New Haven, Conn. 

"In the Spring four years ago I planted about 600 fruit trees using Atlas 
Farm Powder to blow the holes and break up the hard pan. I figure the cost of 
blowing the holes was much cheaper and quicker than by hand digging and the 
results are that nearly every tree planted is growing, having good roots and are a 
tew feet larger than those planted without the use of Farm Powder. Would advise 
anyone planting trees to use it." H. B. HARDING, Breezeport, N. Y. 

"It is a pleasure for me to testify to the splendid value and advantages your 
Farm Powder possesses in connection with the farm. I used 100 pounds in loosen- 
ing up the dirt preparatory to planting an orchard and vineyard. To do this was 
a simple matter and the results were wonderful. I found that it enhanced the 
value of the vine and increased the growth of the tree to a very material extent. 
I am thoroughly convinced of the virtue of Farm Powder and recommend it to 
all farmers without hesitation." BARNEY HULET, Gowen, Okla. 

"It is easy to observe from the cotton where I dynamited. The cotton grown 
on dynamited land has made 1775 pounds of seed cotton to the acre, and some 
yet to be gathered. The cotton raised on the same quality of land adjoining has 
made a yield of only 624 pounds to the acre. The stalks on the dynamited land 
are one-third taller, and the bolls are better developed and much larger. The 
dynamited ground had plenty of moisture all season, but the ground not dyna- 
mited, though it received the same cultivation as the dynamited ground, threw 
ff its forms in August." LEE L. GALT, Ardmore, Okla. 

"Last spring I set out about 250 shade and fruit trees and I used from one to 
one and a half sticks of 40% dynamite in each hole before planting these trees. 
We underwent a very severe drought during the summer, and I succeeded in 
saving all of the trees that I planted with the exception of about ten. The soil 
at this place was clay subsoil, with sand rock base, and it is my opinion that if I 
had not used this method of planting, I would have lost 80% of the entire number 
of trees planted, and the expense attached to dynamiting the holes was very nominal 
as compared with the results obtained. This spring I shall plant some more trees 
and use the same system." PRESS R. ALLEN, McAlester, Okla. 

"Explosives properly used in many ways and for many purposes mean less 
labor, less invested capital, less time, more acreage cultivated, and an increased 
production per acre. . . . The use of explosives is not simply a benefit in 
case of hardpan, but is beneficial to all soils, and is necessary in any heavy, imper- 
vious soil. Its effect is to loosen, drain and aerate, and give additional feeding 
ground for the roots. It loosens up the structure of the deep material without 
bringing the subsoil to the surface. It fines the soil and increases the ease of root 
penetration. It establishes the best conditions for the storage of water, the rate 
and depth of percolation, increases the water capacity, and furnishes the grow- 
ing plant with the right kind of water. It restores the so-called wornout soils to 
fertility and makes otherwise worthless acres produce record-breaking crops. The 
gases produced are mainly carbon dioxide, and compounds of oxygen, hydrogen 
and nitrogen, none of them injurious to plant growth, and most of them actually 
beneficial. Explosives destroy many forms of animal life, and some fungi and 
other undesirable forms of growth." 

PROFESSOR GILBERT E. BAILEY, Uni. of S. California, Los Angeles, 
Bulletin 7, on "The Use of Explosives in Agriculture." 

/// 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

TILLAGE AND FERTILITY 
PRACTICES AND RULES 

In the management of orchard, field and garden soils, numerous 
facts should be on record close at hand for easy reference. Not 
all that are includeci here are related directly to the intensive deep 
tillage of soil by blasting, but all should be found useful at one 
time or another. 



GENERAL INFORMATION 

NUMBER OF PLANTS, TREES OR HOLES TO THE ACRE. 



Spacing. To the Acre. 

l"x 2" 3,136,320 

X 6" 1,045,440 

X 12" 522,720 

X 2" 1,568,160 

X 8" 392,040 

X 12" 261,360 

X 3" 696,960 

X 12" 174,240 

4"xl2" 130,680 

5"xl2" 104,544 



6" 
7" 
8" 
9" 
10" 



12". 
12". 
12". 
12". 
12". 



87,120 
74,674 
65,340 
58,080 

52,272 



Spacing. To tlie 

10"x60" 10 

]2"x20" 26 

15" x 15" 27 

18"xl8" 19 

20"x20" 15 

2' x 2' 10 



4' 

5' 

6' 

7' 

8' 

9' 

10' 

W 

12' 



9' 
10' 

ir 

12' 



Acre. 

,454 
,136 
,878 
,360 
,681 
,890 
,840 
,722 
,742 
,210 
889 
680 
537 
435 
360 
302 



Spacing. 

13' x 13' 
14' X 
15' X 
16' X 
17' X 
18' X 
20' X 
24' X 
30' X 
36' X 
40' X 
50' X 
60' X 
80' X 
100' X 



14'. 
15'. 
16'. 
17'. 
18'. 
20'. 
24'. 
30'. 
36'. 
40'. 
50'. 
60'. 
80'. 
100'. 



To the Acre. 

258 

222 

193 

170 

151 

134 

108 

75 



33 
27 
17 
12 
7 
4 



When the phmts, trees or charges 
are located by the diagonal or staggard 
plan, instead of in squares, the number 
per acre increases about 10 per cent. 

SPACING OF TREES AND PLANTS 

Apples 20' to 40' each way 

Apples, dwarf 8' to 25' each way 

Pears 10' to 30' each way 

Plums 16' to 20' each way 

Peaches 16' to 20' each way 

Cherries 16' to 25' each way 

Apricots 16' to 20' each way 

Nectarines 16' to 20' each way 

Quinces 8' to 14' each way 

Figs 20' to 25' each way 

Mulberries 25' to 30' each way 

Japanese Persim- 
mons 25' to 30' each way 

Loquate 15' to 25' each way 

Pecans 35' to 40' each way 

Grapes 8' to 12' each way 

Currants 4' to 5' each way 

Gooseberries 4' to 5' each way 

Raspberries, biack. . 3' by 6' 
Raspberries, red.. . . 3' by 5' 

Blackberries 4' by 7' to 6' by 8' 

Cranberries 1' or 2' apart each 

way 

112 



Strawberries 1' by 3' 

Oranges and lem- 
ons 25' to 30' each way 

Asparagus Rows 3' to 4' apart 

and 1' to 2' apart 

in row 

Beans, bush 1' in rows 2 to 3 

Beans, pole 3' to 4' apart each 

way 
Beet, early Drills 12" to 18" 

apart 

Beet, late Drills 2' to 3' apart 

Cabbage, early 16" to 28" by 18" 

to 30" 

Cabbage, late 2' to 3' to 2\' by 3^' 

Carrot In drills 1' by 2' 

apart 
Celery Rows 3' bv 4' apart 

and 6'' by 9" 

apart in row 
Corn, sweet Rows 3' by 2>\' 

apart, 9" to 2' in 

row 

Cucumber 4' by 5' each way 

Egg-plant 3' by 3' 

Melons, water-. . . .7' to 8' each way 

Melons, musk- 5' to 6' each way 

Parsnips In drills, 18" to 3' 

apart 



Tillage and Fertility Practices and Rules 



Peas Early sorts, in dou- 
ble rows 8" apart 
Late sorts, in sin- 
gle rows 2' to 3' 
apart 

Potatoes 10" to 18" by 2^' 

to 3' 

Pumpkins 8' to 10' each way 

Rhubarb 2' to 4' by 4' 

Squash, bush 3' to 4' by 4' 

Squash, late . 6' to 8' each way 

Sweet potato 2' b>' 3' to 4' 

Tomato 4' by 4' to 5' 



SEEDS PER ACRE 

Including soiling, cover and catch 
crops useful when soil is blasted. 

Plant. Seed per Acre. 

Alfalfa (broadcast) 20 to 25 pounds 

Alfalfa (drilled) 15 to 20 pounds 

Barley (heavy cover) ... 2 to 2^ bushels 
Bean, dwarf (in drills).. . 1^ bushels 
Bean, pole (in drills) .... 10 to 1 2 quarts 
Bean, field (small varie- 
ties) 2 to 3 pecks 

Bean, field (large varie- 
ties and for heavy 

cover) 5 to 6 pecks 

Beet 4 to 6 pounds 

Blue-grass 25 (pure) 

Buckwheat (for heavy 

cover) 12 

Cabbage f to 1 pound 

Celery 1 ounce for 

2000 plants 
Field-pea (small varie- 
ties) 3 to 35 bushels 

Field-pea (large varie- 
ties) H to 2 bushels 

Grass, for lawns 3 to 5 bushels 

Hemp (broadcast) 3^ to 4 pecks 

Hungarian grass (hay) . . 2 pecks 

Johnson grass 1 J to 1 

Kafir (drills) 3 to 6 pounds 

Kafir (for fodder) 10 to 12 pounds 

Lupine 1 1 bushels 

Melon, musk- (in hills) . . 2 to 3 pounds 
Melon, water- (in hills) . . 4 to 5 pounds 
Millet, pearl (for soil- 
ing) 4 pounds 

Millet, pearl (for hay). . . 8 to 10 pounds 

Milo 5 pounds 

Oats 2 to 3 bushels 

Oats and peas 2 to 21 bushel 

Orchard grass 12 to 15 pounds 

(pure) cuttings 
Potato (Irish) average.. . 10 to 14 bushels 
Potato recommended by 

many for best yields . . 1 5 to 30 bushels 

Rape (broadcast) 4 to 8 pounds 

Red-top (recleaned) .... 12 to 15 pounds 



Rice 1 to 3 bushels 

Rye (late) 6 to 8 pecks 

Rye (forage and cover) . . 3 to 4 bushels 

Rye-grass 2 to 3 bushels 

Sorghum (forage, broad- 
cast) 1 5 to 2 bushels 

Sorghum and peas 3 to 4 pecks 

each 

Soybean (drills) 2 to 3 pecks 

Soybean (broadcast) .... 1 to 1 ^ bushels 

Sunflower 10 to 15 pounds 

Sweet potato 1 5 to 4 bushels 

Timothy 1 5 to 25 pounds 

Timothy and clover . . . . 10and4pounds 
Tomato (to transplant) . ^ pound 

Turnip (broadcast) 2 to 4 pounds 

Velvet bean 1 to 4 pecks 

Velvet, hairy (drilled) ... 1 to 1 ^ bushel 
Vetch, hairy (broad- 
cast) H to 2 bushels 

\'etch, spring 10 pounds 

Wheat 6 by 9 pecks 



TIME OF GROWTH 

Time from when seed or trees are 
planted till the fruit or crop is ripe. 
These figures become valuable when 
compared with the average date for last 
spring frosts in any locality. (Get such 
facts from the U. S. Weather Bureau), 
and with the condition of markets at 
various periods throughout the season. 
They also help in gauging the value of 
new varieties, when their maturing time 
can be learned for comparison. Good 
tillage and proper fertilization, especially 
drainage, will put land in shape for 
earlier planting, which, when frost per- 
mits, may increase the selling price ot 
some crops, or permit growing earlier 
varieties. 

Maturity. 

Apple 3 to 12 years 

Blackberry 1 to 2 years 

Beans, shell 60 to 70 days 

Beans, string 40 to 60 days 

Cabbage 100 to 150 days 

Corn 75 to 100 days 

Currants 1 to 2 years 

Grapes 3 to 4 years 

Lettuce 55 days 

Muskmelons 120 to 140 days 

Peach 2 to 3 years 

Pear 3 to 4 years 

Plum 2 to 5 years 

Quince 2 to 3 years 

Raspberry 1 to 2 years 

Strawberry 4 to 12 months 

Tomatoes 150 days 

Turnips 60 to 70 days 

Oats 110 days 



113 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Some Nitrogen Facts. It pays to get the required supply 
of nitrogen from the air so far as possible, though fruit growers 
and farmers often are wise in applying some nitrate of soda, dried 
blood or manure in order to start the bacterial and other proc- 
esses which gather it from the air, or to maintain them properly. 



An ordinary leguminous crop derives 
about one-third of the nitrogen it uses 
from the soil, and two-thirds from the 
air. If it is cut the stubbles and roots 
usually contain as much nitrogen as the 
plants drew from the soil, leaving the 
fertility in this one respect as high as 
before the crop was grown. When the 
entire crop is turned under 50 to 150 



pounds of actual nitrogen usually are 
gained on each acre. Soy beans, crim- 
son clover and alsike clover are richest 
in nitrogen, field peas about 80 per cent, 
as rich and cowpeas 1 or 2 per jent. less. 
The money value of the nitrogen gained 
can be computed by comparing the num- 
ber of pounds with the tables of values 
on page 123. 



Cover Crop Facts. The terms "cover crops," "soiHng 
crops" and "catch crops" have been used indiscriminately by many 
farmers of this country, with some confusion resulting. 



From the standpoint of this book — 
that is, the soil blasting or deep tillage 
standpoint — any crop is a cover crop 
which fills the lower soil without delay 
with many roots and provides much 
foliage or stubble to be plowed down. 
The cover crop therefore primarily may 
or may not be planted for the purpose of 
improving the soil. It may or may not 
be a catch or soiling crop. 

The purposes for which cover crops 
are planted are, first of all, as a source of 
organic matter and leavening. To this 
end they may be planted before the 
blasting is done (see page 88), or imme- 
diately afterward. The planting should 
not be dela)'ed long after the blasting. 
I f it is some of the effect of the blasting 
may be lost through puddling of the 
fined and loosened soil by hard rains. 

In addition to being a big source of 
organic matter, cover crops help to pre- 
vent erosion, store up moisture and ni- 
trogen (a valuable result in orchards, to 
force ripening of new wood before hard 
frosts), increase bacterial activity and 
prevent the waste of soluble plant foods 
of all kinds by taking them up into the 
roots, stalks and leaves, and holdmg 
them over winter. Leguminous crops 
also gather nitrogen from the air. 

The crops that may be grown as 
cover crops are many in number and 
varied in nature. We shall tabulate 
them below in two classes: 



Legumes. 
Clover, red. 
Clover, mammoth. 
Clover, white. 
Clover, alsike. 


Non-legumes 
Kaffir. 
Wheat. 
Rye. 
Corn. 


Clover, sweet. 
Clover, crimson. 


Turnips. 
Buckwheat. 


114 





Sorghum. 

Millet. 

Oats. 

Weeds of many 
kinds, includ- 
ing ragweed, 
smartweed, 
wild carrot. 



Clover, Japanese. 
Alfalfa. ■ 
Cowpeas. 
Field peas. 
Soy-beans. 
Field beans. 
Velvet beans. 
Horse beans. 
Vetch, spring. 
Vetch, hairy. 
Peanuts. 
Beggar-weed. 
Lupine. 
Lentil. 
Sainfair. 



The cover crop selected should be 
suited to the soil, to the particular pur- 
pose in view, to the climate and to the 
way in which it must be sowed. In re- 
spect to soil, certain crops will do well 
only on light, well drained types, while 
others will succeed even in wet, soggy 
ground. Some also demand a fine, mel- 
low seed bed; others can be made to 
catch well on lumpy, sticky ground, or 
ground that is poor or run down. Where 
fall planting is necessary, quick, fast 
growth is essential, and this certain 
crops will give, while others will not. 
Some are killed by the first frost, others 
live over one winter, making a heav\- 
growth in the spring, while others live 
two years, and a tew many years. Those 
that live only till frost usually are the 
ones to plant in thespring, though many 
other factors enter into the matter. 

If the intention is to turn down the 
entire growth a different selection often 
will be wise from what should be made 
if hay is wanted. Green feed (the soil- 
ing system) throughout the summer de- 
mands careful selection and succession 



Tillage and Fertility Practices and Rules 



of crops, and silage something still dif- 
ferent. Certain crops will not succeed 
in the North, but do well in the South. 
Some crops require careful planting in a 



well prepared, fertilized and limed seed 
bed, while others give satisfaction when 
put in with less work. Location and 
nature of soil determine vour course. 



The brief comments on individual crops in the following para- 
graphs are not intended to exhaust this subject. They merely 
aim to classify the crops so that those interested will have a basis 
for further study of them and for questioning proper authorities 
when the time comes to buy seed. 



Sweet Clover is a large coarse plant 
which will gather nitrogen from the air. 
It grows fast, has heavy foliage, develops 
deep roots, and in general is one of the 
\ery best cover crop plants for use on 
blasted ground where the entire growth 
is to be turned down. Even where a 
cutting of hay is to be made it is excel- 
lent, though stock have to learn to eat 
it before they thrive on it as well as on 
alfalfa or red clover. It is a biennial. 

Crimson Clover is an excellent ni- 
trogen gatherer, and is a convenient 
cover crop plant on account of the way 
it keeps on growing late in the fall and 
during the early spring. It is an annual 
— that is, will live over one winter, then 
must be reseeded. It winterkills in the 
North. Just where it begins to fail de- 
pends on soil and elevation above sea 
level, and cannot be stated briefly. It 
is shallow-rooted, hence is not recom- 
mended for the first few crops after 
blasting of ground. Crimson clover is 
harder to seed than many other legumes. 
It requires a mellow seed bed. It always 
should be sowed in midsummer or fall, 
and usually is plowed down in April or 
May. A full crop will contribute 50 to 
200 pounds of nitrogen to the soil it 
grows in. Even the fall growth should 
give 100 pounds of nitrogen. Each inch 
of growth of the plants, measured from 
the ground, is equal to a ton of ordinary 
manure in organic matter and nitrogen. 
(This same statement applies to other 
legumes.) 

Alfalfa, a nitrogen gatherer, is hard 
to seed and slow to start growing, but 
roots very deeply and develops heavy 
foliage. It lives many years in mellow, 
well-drained soil, though two or three 
years will see it thin out unprofitably in 
soggy ground should a catch be secured 
there. It is valuable as a cover crop 
when one is to be left several years with- 
out cultivation. 

Other Clovers, including red, mam- 
moth and alsike, white, Japan and the 
like, sometimes are of advantage when 
for any reason more suitable cover crop 
plants will not thrive. Mammoth and 
alsike clovers, for instance, will grow 



well on ground too wet for some other 
legumes. White and alsike will stand 
more drought. Alsike and white clover, 
and soinetimes red, often can be planted 
with vetch, peas or rye or wheat to ad- 
vantage. All, however, start to grow 
slowly for cover crop purposes. Red 
clover is a biennial; the others men- 
tioned in this paragraph perennial. 

Field peas make excellent summer 
cover. In two months they often ac- 
cumulate 130 pounds of nitrogen to the 
acre, and besides this, the roots, stalks 
and leaves mine or refine, and contain, 
35 pounds of phosphorus and 120 pounds 
of potash. Field peas do well on ground 
too lumpy or lacking in organic matter 
to grow crimson clover. Warm weather 
is essential for their growth, hence they 
should be planted in the spring. They 
are killed by frost. 

Cowpeas make big growth in short 
time, have deep roots, will catch and 
grow on poor, lumpy soil, will choke 
out weeds, and in general make one of 
the best cover crops where conditions 
are suitable. Some varieties are low and 
bushy, others tall and viney. While 
cowpeas usually are best suited for 
Southern planting, there are varieties 
which succeed as far north as Michigan. 
They often are sown with vetch, or with 
rye or oats. The first hard frost kills 
them, hence they must do all their grow- 
ing before any freezing is due in any 
locality. When they can be planted in 
spring or early summer they make al- 
most ideal cover, but they may be 
planted in mid-summer, particularly in 
more southerly localities. 

Soy-beans are a little slower in 
growth than cowpeas, but are excellent 
nitrogen gatherers, and when the crop 
is to be cut for hay are preferable on ac- 
count of the finer stalks. They resemble 
cowpeas in almost every way, except 
that they are bothered more by weeds. 

Vetch another good legume, will 
catch on poor and lumpy soil, and often 
is desirable to mix with cowpeas or oats. 
Its foliage is heavy though its roots do 
not go very deep. Frost seldom bothers 
it, even in the extreme North, hence 

I/S 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



when sown in the fall a good spring 
growth may be expected. Velvet beans, 
on the other hand, are killed by frost, 
and are useful only in the South, though 
they make heavy growth of both roots 
and foliage. 

Rye is a very useful plant for cover 
crop purposes, though it is a little too 
shallow-rooted for best results after 
blasting. Corn, kaffir and sorghum send 
down masses oi deep-going roots, and 
are excellent for the purpose. The time 
of planting, however, often makes rye 
the better, since it will grow late in the 
fall, and again in the spring. Wheat 
can be used but is not as good as rye. 
Oats, though not deep rooted, are good, 
especially when used with peas. Buck- 
wheat, sown thickly, is another good 
cover crop. It should have mixed with 
it some legume. Millet is excellent when 
weeds must be choked out and cowpeas 
for any reason are not desirable. Barley 
can be used as a nurse crop for some of 
the more tender legumes if desired. 
Turnips are not deep-rooted, but ac- 



cumulate much organic matter, with its 
potash, phosphorus and nitrogen, 
though they gather no nitrogen from 
the air. 

In general, the non-leguminous 
cover crops should be used where leg- 
umes will not catch well owing to poor 
condition of soil, or to increase the 
amount of quick growth. For instance, 
a mixture of alsike or other clover and 
rye or oats or corn will make a bigger 
growth of organic matter to turn under 
than the clover alone, or will make excel- 
lent crops of hay. When it is desired to 
build up the fertility of a soil quickly, 
such a mixture, or cow peas alone, may 
be planted in the spring and turned 
down in July or August, then a second 
cover crop composed of rye and vetch or 
rye and crimson clover, can be sown for 
plowing down the next spring. Tur- 
nips and other such crops are advisable 
for cover purposes only where the soil 
is very poor and thin. They should be 
followed by legumes as soon as the soil 
mellows. 



We recommend a liberal use of sweet clover, cowpeas or soy 
beans, together with corn, kaffir, sorghum and the like, to complete 
the work begun by blasting soil. If a crop can be sown in the 
spring, in anticipation of summer blasting, then turned down in 
August and another sown immediately, the effects will be all the 
better. However, regular field crops of corn or something else, 
followed by the fall cover crop, make good combinations. 



Sowing of cover crops, it will be seen 
from the foregoing comments, should be 
done in the spring, or in late summer in 
time to permit good growth before frost. 
The variety of plant used should be 
suited to the time of sowing. 

One deep-rooted plant should be in- 
cluded in each combination. For in- 
stance, if crimson clover is sown on ac- 
count of its nitrogen-gathering power, 
something else should have been in- 
cluded in the previous crop which would 
have dug deeper into the subsoil. 

Plowing Down of cover crops should 
be done at any time convenient, with a 
few limitations. Very heavy growth of 
foliage should be lightened by cutting 
for hay or fodder. If the ground is cold 
and wet, excess acidity is likely to be 
caused by turning down green stalks and 
leaves. On the other hand, dry and 
woody stalks decompose slowly and are 
less effective for the purpose intended. 
To turn down cover crops when the 
ground is hot and dry may cause the 
curing of the foliage instead of its de- 
composing. The ideal condition is when 
the ground is damp or wet and warm. 



A little newly scattered and rotting 
manure turned down with the green 
stuff will hasten its decomposmg. 

Planting cover crops, to insure a 
good catch, requires more or less gooti 
preparation of seed bed, depending on 
the size of the seed that is used, and on 
its hardiness. Liming is essential for all 
legumes. If the soil lacks lime they will 
not grow well and may not grow at ail. 
If the soil is very much lacking in nitro- 
gen some should be applied in commer- 
cial form to give the plants a start. 
Phosphorus may be desirable in small 
quantities for the same purpose. 

Inoculation of the seed or the 
ground is necessary for some legumes. 
Cowpeas seldom require it, though are 
benefited, and the same statement ap- 
plies to sweet clover. Alfalfa always 
requires it, while field peas, alsike clover, 
red clover and other legumes are helped 
materially by inoculation. 

Soil from another field that has 
grown the kind of plant you are going 
to put in is a good source of inoculating 
bacteria. It should be secured from 2 to 
4 inches under the surface, applied in the 



Tillage and Fertility Practices and Rules 



evening and harrowed in immediately. tained in an average crop of different 
The amount required is 200 to 500 plants. It must be remembered that 
pounds an acre. Direct sun will kill the most of this plant food is in an unavail- 
bacteria. Sweet clover soil mayinoculate able condition before the cover crop is 
alfalfa successfully. Garden pea soil may sown, but it is left in an available con- 
inoculate field peas. Other methods are dition after the plants are turned down 
to soak the seed in water which has fil- and decomposed, 
tered slowly through the soil, or wet the 

seed in weak glue water and then sift on AMOUNT OF PLANT FOOD ELE- 

it the soil in a fine or powdered condition. MENTS IN AN AVERAGE CROP 

Thorough mixing is important and the FROM ONE ACRE (IN POUNDS), 
treated seed must be spread out to dry 

in deep shade or sown at once. Com- rhos- 

mercial cultures of bacteria are success- Nitro- phone 

ful when applied according to the direc- y^"- Acid. Potash, 

tions and with intelligence. They, how- Corn (sowed). . 45 20 35 

ever, must bejresh. Beans 100 30 75 

The following table gives the ap- Ragweed 35 60 80 

proximate quantities of plant food con- Turnips 50 60 90 

Lime Facts, Lime is needed in soil as a corrective of acid 
and other injurious conditions. 

The ammonia test for need of lime of the glass, cover the glass and stand 

consists in mixing together a large spoon- aside for two hours. Another glass 

ful of soil, a half cup of water and a tea- should be fitted with litmus paper, disc 

spoonful of ammonia water which has of blotting paper and water, without 

been diluted to one-fourth strength. If the soil, covered and permitted to 

there are harmful soil acids present stand. Do not disturb the contents of 

the mixture will turn brown in a few the glass when it is lifted to observe 

hours. the result. In the glass with no soil, the 

The litmus paper test requires strips blue litmus paper still should be blue; 

of blue litmus paper of the best quality in the other glass it will be blue if the 

(get them at a drug store). Handle only soil contains no acid, but red if acids are 

with clean dry gloves or with pliers, and present. Should the glass containing 

keep them in a large-mouthed bottle or no soil show red, then the test should be 

jar with lid on. A strip can be applied thrown away as useless, as the water or 

directly to a ball of damp soil in the blotting paper apparently contains acid, 

field, but this method is not very satis- A new test then can be made using 

factory except in the hands of an expert. different water. 

A better way is to put some litmus It often is well to test soil with red 

paper in the bottom of a water glass, litmus paper as well as with blue. If 

then a disc of clean white blotting paper, there is much acid, the paper will remain 

and over that a spoonful of soil. Pour red; if plenty of lime is present, it will 

on some water to cover the contents turn blue gradually. 

Heavy soils that tend to puddle usually are lacking in lime and 
organic matter. Lime will help to mellow them. Stickiness of 
soil indicates a need of lime, though in most soils it is necessary 
to use every care when lime is applied without a corresponding 
amount of organic matter, that the soil is not damaged more than 
it is benefited. 

The amount of lime to apply to the per acre is a good application. Sandy 

acre depends entirely on the soil. In soils, particularly those that lack vege- 

terms of pulverized lump lime applica- table matter and are thin, cannot stand 

tions might be as follows: On muck and more than 500 to 1000 pounds per acre, 

heavy clay and loam soil full of vege- These amounts may be applied once 

table matter, particularly just after a every six years. 

heavy green crop is plowed down or Apply lime to the top of the ground 

after a heavy manuring, 1 to 2 tons to after plowing. Be careful to get it dis- 

the acre may be used. On ordinary tributed evenly. This is hard to do by 

loam soils containing average amounts hand. A manure spreader or lime 

of stubble and roots 800 to 1500 pounds spreader should be used. 

JJ7 



Better Farminc with Atlas Farm Powder 



The kind of lime to apply depends to 
some extent on the nature and needs of 
the soil, but to a much greater extent on 
the location of the land and the price at 
which the lime can be delivered to and 
spread over the ground. 

The active or valuable element in 
the compound commercially known as 
"lime" is calcium. That form of lime is 
best which contains the largest percent- 
age of calcium and at the same time de- 
livers the calcium for the lowest cost per 
pound. There are differences in the sol- 
ubility or what may be called availabil- 
ity of different forms of lime, and in their 
quickness of action, but since in nearly 
all forms the calcium is released satis- 
factorily when applications are proper, 
there is no use in the average man mak- 
ing a big feature of this point. The fol- 
lowing table gives the figures of total 
content. 

CALCIUM IN DIFFERENT KINDS 

OF AVERAGE COMMERCIAL 

LIME 

Quicklime or lump lime 

(calcium oxide) 70 Per Cent. 

Land plaster or gypsum 

(calcium sulphate) .... 22 Per Cent. 

Ground limestone (cal- 
cium carbonate) 40 Per Cent. 

Water-slaked lime (cal- 
cium hyroxide) 54 Per Cent. 

Air-slaked lime Uncertain. 

Air-slaked lime may be much like 
water-slaked, may be still larger in cal- 
cium content, or may be practically 
equivalent to ground limestone — all de- 
pending on the amount of moisture in 
the air and on the length of time it has 
been slaking. Ground limestone may be 



effective up to its full 40 per cent, of 
calcium if very finely divided, or may 
be less effective if coarser. Naturally 
all forms vary somewhat owing to the 
purity of the rock they are made 
from. 

To find the equivalent effective 
amount of any one form of lime in an- 
other form, both may be reduced to 
their content of calcium, or the following 
equivalent may be used: An application 
of 100 pounds of lump lime equals 130 
pounds of water-slaked lime, 180 pounds 
of ground limestone or 300 pounds of 
land plaster. 

The comparative value of the differ- 
ent forms of lime in money is brought 
out strikingly in a table prepared by 
Van Slyke, of the New York Agricul- 
tural Experiment Station. It follows: 

COMPARISON OF PRICES FOR 

DIFFERENT CALCIUM 

COMPOUNDS 

Other forms of lime should 

When 1 ton be bought for: 

of quicklime Slaked Ground Land 

costs: Lime. Stone. Plaster. 

56 $4.55 $3.95 J1.95 

5 3.80 2.80 1.65 

4 3.05 2.25 1.30 

3 2.30 1.70 1.00 

The buyer must bear in mind that 
these figures must include all costs, not 
forgetting the cost of hauling from rail- 
road station or wharf, and of spreading. 
It costs more to haul and spread 2 or 3 
tons than 1 ton. The man who lives 
where transportation charges are low 
may be justified in using slaked lime or 
ground stone when another man living 
further awav may not be. 



Manure Facts. The application of manure in the majority 
ot instances is made blindly, without any definite idea of the actual 
amounts of plant foods it carries or of its probable effect in the soil 
beyond the general thought that it may make crops better. There 
are many facts, however, on which more intelligent consideration 
of manure and its application to land can be based. 



The composition of manure is one of 
them. It is sufficiently accurate to state 
that a ton of average mixed or cattle 
manure, protected from the weather, 
;ind which has lost little liquid, contains 
about 10 pounds of nitrogen (5 of 1 per 
cent.), about 5 pounds of phosphoric 
acid (i of 1 per cent.) and 10 pounds of 
potash (5 of 1 per cent.). Hog manure 

ns 



is not so good; horse and chicken manure 
are better. 

Some feeds make richer manure than 
others. The table on the following page 
gives the plant food element constitu- 
ents of several feeds. 

If price and other factors are the 
same it pays to use the feed with the 
hisih manure value. 



Tillage and Fertility Practices and Rules 



PLANT FOOD CONSTITUENTS OF VARIOUS FEEDS. 

Nitrogen Potash Phosphoric Fertilizing value 

Feed. in in Acid in f^m ton of feed. 

T^ T, T-, (i>ee table, page 

Ion. Ion. Ion. i'.3 j 

Cotton-seed meal 140 lbs. 60 lbs. 35 lbs. $20.40 

Oil cake meal 110 " 36 " 27 " 15.70 

Wheat bran 53 " 58 " 32 " 10.00 

Alfalfa hay 50 " 11 " 45 " 8.25 

Red clover 42 " 10 " 40 " 7.05 

Oats 40 " 16 " 12 " 5.90 

Corn (grain) 32 " 14 " 8 " 4.70 

Timothy 25 " 10 " 20 " 4.20 

Corn ensilage 6 " 3 " 7 " 1.10 

The value of the manure produced average about 50 pounds of manure a 

by an animal for a year usually is more day; a cow, about 80 pounds. 

than is supposed. It varies directly The money value of the plant 

with the weight of the animal. For in- food in manure averages on the same 

stance, a horse, per 1000 pounds of his basis, about $2.50 per ton (of manure) 

weight, usually produces about 150 for horse manure, $2 for cow and 

pounds of nitrogen, 60 pounds of phos- pig manure, $3 for sheep manure 

phoric acid and 140 pounds of potash. and $4 for chicken manure. These 

Equal quantities of the same elements values, however, are that of manure 

in commercial fertilizers would cost which has not lost any of its elements 

about JlOO at normal prices. Thisvalue through leaching or evaporation. It is 

should not be overlooked when the cost probable that the average manure is 

of keeping horses and when fertility not protected well enough to maintain 

problems are considered. A horse will quite so high an average. 

Care of manure to prevent loss of its value is important. In 

addition to protecting it from the weather, it should be kept moist 
by throwing on water when it tends to dry out and get too warm, 
and it should be well compacted. If the new manure is thrown 
on a pile of old, the new will suffer less loss owing to the gases 
from below driving fresh air out of the pile above. 

The use of absorbents and preserva- or any other form of fertilizer to pile it in 
tive materials is good practice in many large amounts on a soil lacking in some 
instances. Land plaster has been used one or more of the important links in 
much in the past. Acid phosphate of the chain of fertility. We know of sev- 
low grade is as good as land plaster, and eral farms where 100 loads to the acre 
in addition combines with some of the often are used with big profit. The soil, 
plant food elements in the manure in a however,isdeeply broken and mellowed, 
way that prevents their escape and well supplied with organic matter and 
makes them more readily available for lime, and is well tilled. The crops are 
roots. Plain ground rock phosphate immense. Manure is a help in building 
absorbs the liquid parts of the manure, up poor soils, but farmers who use ma- 
but has no chemical reaction to any of nure for that purpose must not expect 
the mineral elements. Sulphuric acid immediate profit from heavy applica- 
sprinkled over the manure tends to pre- tions. The general conclusion, there- 
vent almost entirely any loss of nitrogen fore, is that it pays to put manure light- 
in ammonia. The amount of any of ly on thin soils, and heavily on rich soils, 
the absorbing materials to use will be To carry the same idea further, the 
about 100 pounds to the ton of manure, manure should be applied to the crop 
but should be limited by no set rule. which will yield the most profit. The 
Enough should be used to take up all the crop that follows the application usually 
liquid manure. takes half the plant food in the manure. 

Ten to 20 two-horse loads to the acre The other half is divided among several 

is a good application when the spreading crops. 

isuniform. Twice to three times this much If the manure is applied on a low- 
is profitable when other soil conditions paying crop its greatest possible return 
are up to normal. It is a waste of manure cannot be realized. 

//9 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



Fertilizer Facts, Every farmer and fruit grower is inter- 
ested in commercial fertilizers. The man who blasts will do well 
to study the subject carefully, since intelligent selection of the 
particular food elements to apply, and of the form in which they 
are secured, will save money and will promote greater returns 
from the blasting and cultivation. Read pages 117 to 119. 



An interesting comparison can be 
made of the term "ferti''zer" with the 
term "clothing." To buy and use fer- 
tilizer without knowing the relation of 
its particular composition to the needs 
of the particular soil and crop is just 
about as sensible an action as to ask a 
storekeeper for clothing when it is gloves 
or shoes that are needed. Agriculturists 
should feed their soil with nitrogen, 
phosphorus and potash as needed, not 
Just with "fertilizer." 

The Elements. For the purpose of 
this book we take it for granted that 
readers are familiar with the fundamen- 
tal facts of plant nutrition. We assume 
that everyone knows about or has heard 
of the dozen or more chemical elements 
that plants take from the soil and air as 
food, and that they understand about 
three of these elements sometimes run- 



ning low — or the soluble amount of them 
present in the soil getting low. 

Nitrogen sometimes actually does 
become exhausted from the soil more or 
less completely. Phosphorus becomes 
exhausted less often, and potash, except 
in muck soils, seldom is lacking. Yet, 
as pointed out on page 100, plants may 
starve to death with their roots in a ver- 
itable heap of all the elements, if the 
food is in a chemical condition in which 
it will not dissolve in water. 

One of the chief results to be ex- 
pected from proper blasting is the re- 
lease of locked up native plant food 
unavailable up to that time. To hasten 
the natural processes which bring about 
such release the use of commercial 
plant food often is advisable, while to 
make good actual deficiencies is advis- 
able always. 



PERCENTAGE OF THE THREE IMPORTANT PLANT FOOD ELE- 
MENTS IN VARIOUS COMMERCIAL MATERIALS 



Material. 

Acid Phosphate 

Ashes, Wood (unleached) . 
Ashes, Wood (leached) . . . 

Basic Slag 

Blood, Dried (high grade). 
Blood, Dried (low grade) . 

Bone Meal 

Bone (dissolved) 

Bone Black (dissolved) . . . 

Cotton-seed Meal 

Cotton-seed 

Castor Pomace 

Fish Scrap, dried 

Garbage, City 

Kainit 

Meat Scraps 

Muriate of Potash 

Nitrate of Soda 

Phosphate Rock, ground . . 
Sulphate of Ammonia. . . . 

Sulphate of Potash 

Tankage 

Tankage (concentrated) . . 
Tobacco Stems 



Phosphoric 


Phosphoric 


Potash 


Nitrogen, 


Acid, Total 


Acid 


(K,0), 


Per 


Per Cent. 


Available 


Per Cent. 


Cent. 


13 to 19 


12 to 16 






1 to 2 




2 to 8 




1 to 1.5 




1 to 2 




10 to 18 






12 to 14.5 


3 to 5 






10 to 11 


20 to 25 


5 to 8 




2.5 to 4.5 


15 to 17 


13 to 15 




2 to 3 


17 to 19 


16 to 17 






2 




1.5 


6.5 to 7.5 


1.5 






3 to 4 


2 






5 to 6 


6 to 8 






9.5 to 11 


0.1 to 1.5 




2 to 4 
12 to 13 

48 to 54 


2 to 4 
13 to 14 
15 to 16 


26 to 39 




48 to 52 


19 to 22 


8.5 to 14 






5 to 9 


1 to 2 






11 to 12.5 


0.5 to 1 




5 to 8 


2 to 3 



J20 



Tillage and Fertility Practices and Rules 



It will be seen from the table on the 
preceding page that nitrogen, potash and 
phosphorus can be secured from different 
sources. The wisdom ol using one source 
of material in preference to another de- 
pends on the combination represented in 
the material in relation to the needs of 
your soil, on the market price per pound 
of the actual plant food contained, on the 
rate at which plant food becomes avail- 
able, and on the indirect effects of the 
material on the soil. The details ot 
all these characteristics make too long a 
story to tell here. They may be learned 
from the makers of fertilizers. Some 
materials help the soil to store and to 
hold capillary moisture; others mellow 
it, as lime does. The "filling" used in 
commercial fertilizers (often land plas- 
ter) may have some such effect, even 
if it contained no actual plant food 
whatever. Another point to bear in 
mind is that not all of the plant food in a 
material may be available. Some ol it 
may remain insoluble for many years. 
Sometimes it is important to use mate- 
rials in which the food elements are avail- 
able immediately ; elsewhere it may be of 
advantage to use materials which give 
up their food elements slowly, through 



months or years. A consideration of 
these factors leads directly to a study of 
the adaptation of fertilizers to different 
crops, and of tests that will tell what 
plant food a soil lacks. 

Adaptation of Fertilizers to Crops. A 
deep-rooted tree should have a less 
quickly available fertilizer than a shal- 
low-rooted plant. A crop which grows 
through a long season needs less quickly 
available fertilizer than one which makes 
its growth in sixty to ninety days. Short 
and shallow roots also must be consid- 
ered in connection with the necessity for 
having the plant food concentrated with- 
in their reach rather than distributed 
through several feet of soil. Crops 
which largely consist of green foliage, 
as garden crops, usually need nitrogen 
more than other food elements, but 
crops which must ripen large quantities 
of highly colored grain or fruit demand 
the other elements, especially toward 
the latter part of summer. Farmers and 
fruit growers should learn what the char- 
acteristics of the different materials are 
in respect to availability, and should 
select and use them so that the plant 
food they carry will be available soon or 
late as required. 



Tests to Determine What Plant Foods a Soil 
Needs, It would be an easy solution of a difficult problem if 
a chemical analysis of a sample of soil would show what plant food 
elements it requires to make crops grow well. Unfortunately 
analysis will not show anything but the total content of each food, 
without giving any light on whether that content all is available, 
or is partly available, or is entirely insoluble and hence useless. 



Pot or basket experiments will indi- 
cate what elements the soil will respond 
to, but to insure accurate and depend- 
able results from them great care is 
necessary in controlling the moisture 
supply and in weighing out and apply- 
ing the fertilizer materials. As a con- 
sequence the average man had better 
not attempt such experiments. It is 
too fine a job. 

Field experiments on plots, on the 
other hand, can be made to yield prac- 
tical information. They require care, 
of course, and often are delayed or in- 
terfered with by weather, but if con- 
ducted with intelligence and persisted 
in they will prove many points. They 
should be continued for five to ten 
years. 

The best plan is to lay off 10 to 15 
small plots where the soil is both uni- 
form and typical of large fields or areas 
within the farm or orchard. The plots 



should be well drained, preferably in 
a natural way, and should be located 
where they can be cared for with cer- 
tainty and convenience. In size they 
may be anything from a rod square up 
to a quarter acre. Ten feet wide by 50 
to 200 feet long is a popular size. Strips 
of unworked and unfertilized ground 2 
or more feet wide should be left between 
the plots. 

The two end or outside plots should 
have no fertilizer of any kind. Six of 
the plots should be devoted to applica- 
tions of nitrate of soda, acid phosphate, 
muriate of pofash (or some other form of 
potash) , lime in some form, and manure, 
one material only to each plot. The re- 
maining plots can be given combinations 
of two or more elements; one should re- 
ceive nitrogen, potash and phosphorus. 
The amounts to apply should be in di- 
rect proportion to the usual amounts 
recommended per acre, but v=ell 

121 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 



may be the maximum mentioned. 
As a guide, we may mention 1 to 2 
pounds per square rod of nitrate of soda, 
and of potash material, 4 pounds of acid 
phosphate, 10 to 20 pounds of slaked 
lime and 1 50 pounds of manure. 

The crop grown may be any that is 
usual in the locality. Wheat is good. 
A rotation should be practised, just as 
on land not under test. 

We wish there was space to discuss 
the results and findings of such tests. 
All we can say, however, is that the 
greatest care is desirable not only in 
measuring; with accuracy the actual dif- 
ferences in growth on different plots, 
but comparing the results on one 
plot to those on another. Any con- 
clusions can be backed by coincident 
effects on two or more plots. 

The results produced indirectly, as 
by lime in releasing insoluble pot- 
ash and phosphorus, and as of the 
action of the deep tillage of blasting 
in connection with deep penetration 
of organic matter and lime, must be 
given equal attention and thought as 
given to the results produced directly 
by the food elements applied. One 
year's results seldom are conclusive, 
though they usually begin to show the 
main facts. The experiments should ex- 
tend over several years. Wet seasons 
and dry seasons, or other out-of-the- 
ordinary conditions, often upset the 
findings, and their results should be dis- 
regarded. 

Observations of field crops is another 



test that may help to tell what plant 
foods are lacking, especially when the 
observer knows fully the fertilizing that 
has been done during the past few years 
and is familiar with the kind of tillage 
and other practices carried on. 

The presence of available nitrogen 
is denoted by bright color and deep 
green color in leaves, and to some extent 
by the size or amount of growth made. 
Lack of nitrogen usually causes pale 
green color, or yellow color, and may 
stunt the plants somewhat. The nitro- 
gen may not be lacking in the soil, how- 
ever, as it may merely be insoluble on 
account of continued cold and wet con- 
ditions, or there may not be enough 
moisture present to dissolve it. Too 
much nitrogen (rarely found) causes ex- 
cess growth of stalks, leaves, at the ex- 
pense of fruit or grain, or may show in 
soft, late-ripening fruit. 

The presence of phosphorus in the 
soil is indicated by the plants or trees 
starting off to grow well, and by plump 
fruit or grain maturing in normal or 
shorter time. The lack of phosphorus 
usually shows up in slow growth of 
young plants or trees, and in slow matur- 
ing of fruit or grain. 

The presence of potash in the soil is 
shown usually by good growth of corn, 
tomatoes, potatoes, and by fine flavor 
and texture in the fleshy part of fruits. 
A lack of potash usually shows itself in 
slimness of stalks and leaves, and in p 
general brittleness and weakness ot 
stems and wood. 



Because a plant food is present, however, does not mean that 
there may not be big profit in applying more of it. The main use 
of any test or observation is to point out what elements are limit- 
ing the crops, so that the limitation can be remedied, and that 
all links of the chain of plant foods may be made equally strong. 

New York Experiment Station: 

"The matter of soil fertilization is 
really more than the feeding of crops, 
since other conditions affect plant 
growth. When we apply plant food to 
•soils, we not only place 'the material 
within reach of the growing plants, but 
the presence of the added material in 
the soil usually produces modifications 
of a physical, chemical and biological 
character in the soil itself, and these 
modifications influence plant growth to 
an extent we cannot easily measure." 



The Amount of Plant Foods to Apply 

should be just enough to bring the na- 
tive soil supply up to the needs of the 
crop. The table on page 101 may be used 
as a guide to the total amount that must 
be within reach of the roots of trees or 
plants. There is no way of telling how 
much is available in the soil, except lor 
the indirect knowledge that may be 
gained from the plot tests and in obser- 
vation ot crops. In this connection, we 
will include a self-explanatory quota- 
tion from Lucius L. Van Slyke, of the 



Fertilizer Materials and Formulae 



The expression of the percentage of 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash 
in a commercial fertilizer analysis or 
guarantee often is made in figures only 

122 



— -thus: "2-8-2." The first figure usu- 
ally refers to nitrogen, the second to 
available phosphoric acid and the 
third to potash. In the Southern 



Tillage and Fertility Practices and Rules 



States however the first figure often tee is in any other form, it should be 

refers to phosphoric acid, the second translated into these common terms ac- 

to nitrogen and the last to potash. cording to the following table. Unless 

Thus, in the South the expression this is done a clear idea of the value of 

would be "8-2-2." the fertilizer is hard to get, even b>' an 

A word is advisable at this point expert, 
about the chemical terms used in analy- It helps the man who is working 
sis. In spite of the fact that the actual carefully and intelligently if he knows 
plant foods meant are nitrogen, phos- the source of each element. It is impor- 
phorus and potassium, other terms for tant to know whether nitrogen comes 
different chemical forms of the same from nitrate of soda, dried blood, cot- 
element, such as ammonia for nitrogen, tonseed meal, or is in an ammonialform. 
often are used, which lead to confu- Phosphoric acid in acid phosphateshould 
sion and often to loss and disappoint- be stated as to percentage of water 
ment. soluble and reverted. Potash may be 

The nitrogen in a fertilizer should in sulphate form or as muriate (chlor- 

be calculated in terms of nitrogen only, ide). The degree of availability and the 

the phosphorus in terms of phosphoric effect on soil and crops can be estimated 

acid only, and the potassium in terms of intelligently only when these points are 

potash only. If the analysis or guaran- known. 

RELATION OF CHEMICAL FORMS OF PLANT FOOD ELEMENTS 

{1.2 pound ammonia. 
6.0 pounds nitrate of soda. 
4.0 pounds sulphate of ammonia. 
3.0 pounds calcium cyanamid. 

One pound phosphoric acid equals [ ?-^^ P°""^ phosphorus. _^ 

\ l.l pounds bone priosphate. 
i 0.83 pound potassium. 

One pound oi potash (K2O) equals \ 1.6 pounds muriate of potash. 

( L85 pounds sulphate of potash. 

The following table, largely from element is the better buy. (This table 

that excellent publication "The Farm is used because it was prepared before 

and Garden Rule Book," is valuable as war conditions caused unprecedented 

a basis of comparison with quoted mar- rises in prices of some fertilizer mate- 

ket prices of fertilizers. It also may rials. It should give the normal values ) 
serve to help decide which one of two or Trade values of plant food elements 

more possible forms of any plant food in raw materials and chemicals: 

Nitrogen in ammonia salts and in nitrate 16 cents per pound. 

Nitrogen in fine fish, meat, blood, mixed fertilizers, bone 

and tankage 20 cents per pound. 

Nitrogen in coarse bone and tankage 15 cents per pound. 

Phosphoric acid, water soluble A\ cents per pound. 

Phosphoric acid in fish, bone, cottonseed meal and tank- 
age 3^ to 4 cents per pound. 

Potash in sulphate and ashes 5 cents per pound. 

Potash in muriate A\ cents per pound. 

These figures give the market cost soil and your crops require. Figure 
of the plant food elements, yet they do how many pounds of actual nitrogen, 
not signify what may be the crop value. phosphoric acid and potash there are 
If any one element is badly lacking, it per ton in various materials and mix- 
may be cheap at ten times the prices tures that can be bought. Multiply by 
named above. If the soil already con- the value per pound in the table above, 
tains enough of it it may be dear at the Buy the food elements you need in 
cost of hauling and applying it. The the form in which they are cheapest and 
table, however, will serve a useful and best balanced, 
instructive purpose if the actual market 

value of any fertilizer to be bought is The war conditions have brought 

computed by means of its figures in con- about marked increases in the quota.- 

nection with the analysis or guarantee tions on certain plant food materials, 

figures. notably on potash compounds. There 

How to Do Your Fertilizer Figuring. is a limit to the price that may be paid 

Learn all possible about what foods with profit for any plant food element, 

J23 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

though each farmer and fruit grower Mixed. When lime (except ground 

must set the limit for himself. Potash limestone) is mixed with manure, there 

supplies in the soil may be drawn upon is a loss of nitrogen caused. Mixing 

more largely than ever before by means acid phosphate and nitrate of soda also 

of soil blasting and other tillage, and of may result in loss of nitrogen, though a 

lime applications. So long as excessively little lime added will prevent it. Acid 

high prices prevail, more and more re- phosphate also may lose some of its free 

liance must be placed on these other phosphoric acid through the reversion 

means of feeding plants. to insoluble forms if mixed with lime 

Fertilizers That Should Not Be of any kind or with wood ashes. 



GENERAL INFORMATION 

How to Have an Experienced Man Do Your Blast- 

ing» If you do not want to do your own blasting, there are pro- 
fessional blasters who will do your work. If your operation is large, 
it will pay to get one of these men to superintend your work. He 
will save powder and get the work done quicker and better than 
an inexperienced man can do it. Write us for the name of the near- 
est blaster if you do not know one. 

Men Wanted to Learn Blasting, As the use of ex- 
plosives becomes more common for subsoiling, orchard work, 
and ditching, as well as for removing stumps and stones, there is 
opportunity for hundreds of men to make money by becoming 
expert blasters. 

Not everybody knows how to handle explosives. Some men 
do not care to learn. Many will pay good wages to an experienced 
blaster. Profitable contracts can be secured as soon as a blaster 
gets started. In fact, we help blasters to get such business. 

If you are interested in learning agricultural blasting, we will 
be glad to take the matter up with you and tell you how you can 
get the training and experience. 

How to Get Information. In the foregoing pages we 
have given detailed information on the action of explosives in all 
farm work, and have told how to prepare the charges and how to 
place and fire them to get the greatest results with least labor and 
expense. 

If we have failed to make clear any points in connection with 
the benefits of using explosives for any purpose, or if we have not 
explained fully how to proceed with the work, we shall appreciate 
it if you will write us fully. 

Tell us how many stumps or stones you have to remove, and 
also what are the soil conditions. If you want to make ditches, 
give us an idea of about how large and how long they should be and 
describe the soil conditions. If you are interested in subsoiling in 
orchard, field, garden, or lawn, give us details. After you have 
read this book, we would like to hear from you. Let us know 
whether or not you have any difficulty in any of your operations. 



General Information 



EVIDENCE 

"The Atlas Farm Powder that I have been getting the past few jears has been 
used in clearing the larger stumps from 400 acres of land, and for blasting holes 
to plant about seven thousand pecan trees. For both purposes I have found it 
verv satisfactory. I am especially enthusiastic in its use for tree planting." 

v. G. HUMPHREY, Ocean Springs, Miss. 

"We are very much pleased with the results obtained by using Atlas Farm 
Powder. We had about one acre of land which was covered with water most of 
the year, nothing at all would grow there, not even meadow grass. We d\namited 
this piece of land about the first of April and planted it in potatoes. At the pres- 
ent time they look even better than anv other part of the 100-acre field." 

C. F. SEABROOK, Bridgeton, N. J. 

"We used powder this spring to remove a lot of old trees about the College 
orchards. These trees varied from ten inches to fifteen or sixteen inches in diameter. 
The cost of removal was about twenty cents per tree for powder or dynamite, and 
about ten cents per tree for labor. The cost of removing the trees by digging varied 
from eighty cents to as high as two dollars per tree. Also used it to open up post 
holes in the rock, with markeci success." 

ALVIN KEYSER, Prof, of Agronomy, State Agri. College, Boulder, Colo. 

"At the Garacove Farm we used a lot of Atlas Farm Powder, chiefly in tree 
planting, but also in stump blasting and draining of water holes. We planted 
more than 2200 apple trees in May, which is very late for this section, and all 
except one of them grew in spite of dry weather. No such success would have 
been possible without such soil treatment as the use of the Powder. alone made 
possible. We blew out some big oak trees and caused the water to disappear at 
one very low spot in the field." 

GARACOVE FARM, Northeast, Md. 

"My husband and I talked about blasting stumps, but I didn't want him to 
do it until we got your book, 'Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder.' We 
read the book together. The pictures and directions made everything so plain. 
The first stump we blasted came out whole, so we used a little more powder under 
the rest and split them up. This made it easy to handle them for burning. You 
surely are right in saying that using Atlas Farm Powder is the easy, quick and cheap 
way to get rid of stumps. It is so much easier than grubbing them out." 

MRS. J. R. CRONISTER, Martha, Pa. 

"We have been able to accomplish work b}- the use of explosives which other- 
wise never could have been done. Other work was done which, if it had not 
been for explosives, still would be in progress or unstarted. I know that we have 
made more than a mile of ditch this summer with explosives. For planting apple 
trees, an explosive is of a great deal of value. It saves men labor in digging holes, 
in clearing land, and it insures far better results in crops from the land. In blast- 
ing boulders we seldom drill, nearly always mudcap. This takes a little more 
dynamite, but saves more than its equivalent in time." 

HORACE CHENERY, The Pastures, Belfast, Me. 

"There is just one thing more I want to say about your Atlas Farm Powder, 
and that is its absolute safety. Like the majority of individuals. West Hatton 
folks had an exaggerated idea about the danger of handling explosives of this 
kind, and so when we finally decided to resort to blasting we employed an experi- 
enced man to come and do the work. After watching him handle the powder, it 
didn't take us long to realize that our ideas of the danger involved in handling 
Farm Powder were greatly exaggerated. We are doing our own blasting now, 
and we have found so many needs for powder in the every-day work about the Farm 
that we plan to keep a small supph' on hand at all times. Seldom a week goes by 
that we don't have a little job about the farm where Atlas Farm Powder saves us 
a lot of work." 

F. M. REEDER, West Hatton Farm, Charles County, Md. 

125 



Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder 

ATLAS BLASTING MATERIALS 
MADE ESPECIALLY FOR FARM USE 

Atlas Farm Powder. This is put up in sticks 1^ inches in 
diameter by 8 inches long. Each stick weighs about | pound. A 
50-pound box contains 98 to 100 sticks. These sticks are packed 
in 25- and 50-pound wooden boxes. See pages 5, 6, 25, 47, 66, 68 
and 88, covering work to which it is best adapted. 

Atlas Powder 50 Per Cent. This is put up in sticks the 
same size and almost the same weight as Atlas Farm Powder. A 
50-pound box will contain from 95 to 100 sticks. See pages 5 and 6, 
for purposes for which this powder is superior. 

Atlas Blasting Caps. Made in two different strengths 
— No. 6 and No. 8. The No. 6 size is made strong enough 
to explode Atlas Farm Powder and Atlas Powders. All caps are 
copper tubes, 1^ to 2 inches long, open at one end. They contain 
an explosive sensitive to shock and heat and must be handled with 
the greatest care. Store them in a dry place. If caps are stored 
throughout the year, it is wise to buy No. 8. 

ruse. This is put up in packages containing two 50-foot coils. 
Beaver Brand is right for ordinary dry and damp work. Where 
considerable water is encountered. Clover or Crescent Brand should 
be used. Keep in a dry cool place. Warm before unrolling if cold. 

Electric Fuzes. An electric fuze is a specially prepared "cap" 
into which is fastened insulated wires, to carry an electric current. 
The wires come 4 to 30 feet long as ordered. Electric fuzes must 
be used instead of blasting caps and fuse for electric firing. They 
are made in the same strength as blasting caps with the same num- 
bers. For use where charges are to be entirely under water for 
more than half an hour or so, get special waterproof electric fuzes. 
Electric fuzes are packed 25 and 50 in a box. 

Atlas Electric Blasting Machine. An Atlas Electric 
Blasting Machine is shown on page 15. These machines are 
made in various sizes. The Atlas Little Giant blasting machine 
will fire 5 charges at once; the No. 2 U. S. standard machine, 10 
charges; the No. 3 machine, 30 charges; larger sizes, up to 150 
charges. See complete discussion of electric firing on page 13. 

Wire Needed for Electric Blasting. You will require 
"Leading Wire" to connect the blasting machines with the fuze 
wires. This should be long enough for the blaster to stand at least 
100 feet away for subsoil blasting, 300 feet away for stump blast- 
ing, and 450 feet away for stone blasting. With the Single Leading 
Wire you must use two wires to the charges. Duplex Leading Wire 
has two insulated wires bound together within another insulating 
coat, and is easier to handle. "Connecting Wire" is light single 
wire used to connect the end charges of series with Leading Wire 
and to connect fuze wires that are too far apart to reach each other. 
/36 



General Information 




>>,to^jfe!S!«'= 



Ott. 



^^ 






ATLAS BLASTING SUPPLIES 

Atlas materials are shipped from all our different 
plants and from storage magazines in every important 
center. Sold by denlers everywhere. Buy from your 
home dealer. 



12} 



Atlas High Explosives 

AN EXPLOSIVE FOR EVERY REQUIREMENT 

100 Different Kinds 



Dynamite 
Permissible Explosives 

Miners' Friend 

Coalite 

Vigoritc 
Gelatin Dvnamite 



Blasting Gelatin 
Extra Dynamite 
Oil Well Explosive 
Quarry Pow^der 
Farm Pow^der 
Low Po waders 



Atlas Blasting Powder 

*'A' Blasting and "B" Blasting 

All Standard Granulations 



Sporting Po\¥ders 

for 

Shotguns Rifles Revolvers 

Smokeless and Black 



Fireworks Powder 



Atlas Blasting Supplies 



Delay Electric Igniters Galvanometers 

Electric Fuzes Rheostats 

Delay Electric Fuzes Leading Wire 

Electric Squibs Connecting Wire 

Blasting Machines Blasting Caps 



Fuse 

Miners' Squibs 
Thawing Kettles 
Tamping Bags 
Cap Crimpers 



Chemicals 

Ammonium Nitrate 
Sulphuric Acid 
Nitric Acid 

Lacquers 

Wood and Metal 

Leather Cloth for Upholstering 



Mixed Acids 
Nitrocellulose 
Nitre Cake 



ATLAS POWDER COMPANY 

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 



138 




For 

Stump Blasting 
Boulder Dlastin^ 
Subsoil Blasting 
Tree Planting 

Ditch Di^din<^ 
Road Making 




er Lomp 

iimirn^ton, Delaw&re 



